Pirating 101
by Angel's Star
Summary: Travel back into the time of pirates with these girls and a boy who want to learn how to be pirates for themselves as they experience adventure, drama, and the high seas. Classes are taught by the POTC cast themselves! Credit goes to Camillla Sandman.
1. Prolouge

A/N: I sooo had to write this! It's been on my mind for the past few…weeks I guess. Anywho! It's time to take a visit to Credit Corner! I know I've heard that somewhere before, but I can't remember where…Ah well.

**Credit Corner**: This story is sort of a take off of the Official Fanfiction University type stories. I really got more of an idea for this from SirenoftheStorm's story Official Fanfiction University of the Caribbean, so if you like this, be sure to go read hers. Anyway! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC.

Chapter 1

The sun slowly began its normal routine of rising of a morning to wake the inhabitants of the earth. Dew sparkled in the early morning rays of light. Birds began flitting from their trees to the ground in hopes of being the early bird who would catch the worm.

It was truly a lovely campus. Much more beautiful than most had expected it would be. A few trees native to the Caribbean dotted the campus. A few shrubs lined the main gravel drive which led up to the large white building. The dorms, which were also white, were located behind the main building. But it was not so much a building as it was an extremely large house. A house some students had gotten lost in temporarily.

Each of the buildings were simple and without any extra luxuries such as air conditioning, seeing as how it had not been invented yet. This would be exceptionally miserable for those students from the twenty-first century who had grown accustomed it. And an added bonus for them was that it was August in the Caribbean. One of the hotter parts of the year. Yes, there would be complaining from many students, but they would thank her for pushing them forward.

She stood with a hand on the window sill, watching the sun rise over the ocean which was fairly close by. The sun hit her face and wavy blonde hair. She stood in one of the halls. In only a few days these very halls would be filled with the students who yearned to be pirates. She wondered what the Royal Navy would think if they ever found this school for pirates.

The school was located on an almost isolated island. Only a few other people lived on this side of it, but most lived on the other side. Even with the lack of people, a small town with a two restaurants, a blacksmith, a shoe store, a small pub, and two competitive clothing stores had managed to spring up. A small market down by the ocean was the busiest location during the day in this town.

The students probably would not like the isolated feel of the area, but they would have opportunities to regularly visit the other side of the island. Supervised, of course. The other side of the island had more of what they would be interested in, especially if they were from the twenty-first century. The other town included a larger market, more restaurants, a large blacksmith's shop, another pub, many clothing stores, and even a small coffee shop with a wide variety of flavors: black or cream and sugar. Both sides of the island had fully functioning ports. This was the island of Pelegaus.

It was easy enough hiding what was truly taught at the school from the citizens of the small town. Nobody was allowed on the campus unless they were a student there. None of the citizens questioned what was taught or whether they were harboring future pirates or not. So far, all the past students had been good about obeying the rules, so she had only minor worries about this new group.

She turned from the beautiful Caribbean sunrise and walked down the hall. She had always gotten here a few days earlier than was necessary for a new school year so she could make sure everything was ready. Today the "teachers" themselves would begin arriving. They never made it all on the same day, but all arrived before the school year started.

She continued to her office and sat down to a small bowl of fruit she had prepared for herself only moments before. It was only a matter of waiting now.

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**A/N**: Yes, short chapter, but that's sorta ok. **Go to the next chapter if you want to be a student in the school and fill out the application and send it to me!** Okie dokie. That's it. Go ahead! You know you want to be a part of it!


	2. Welcome to the Caribbean

A/N: Yay! I've got students! Yay me! On with the chapter.

Disclaimers: This is probably the first time I've ever had to disclaim so many things! I don't own POTC or any of these students except for Sandra and (my) Angel, who is not to be confused with redandblack 4eva's Angel.

Chapter 2

(The Actual Chapter)

Sandra fingered the envelope curiously as she hurried up stairs to her room. It was from a college, she new that much, but she had never heard of a Pelegaus University. Maybe the fact that the college was located somewhere in the Caribbean had something to do with it. Whatever the reason, she was surprised that somebody in the Caribbean had heard of her academic success, considering she did not get straight A's.

She made it to her room and quickly shut the door behind her and glanced out her window. It was dark. The only reason she had not gotten the piece of mail earlier was because she had gone to see a movie with some friends.

Sandra sat on the edge of her bed and brushed her sandy blonde, shoulder length hair from her face. Her light, green eyes scanned the address once more.

"That's funny…" She muttered. "It has no real address other than it being located in the Caribbean…"

She quickly opened the envelope and pulled out the folded paper. She tossed the envelope carelessly to her bed and opened the paper.

_Sandra,_

_It is my pleasure to formally congratulate you on your acceptance to Pelegaus University._

"I've never applied to this university…" she scanned the paper further.

_We have reserved a place for you among the dormitories and are anxiously awaiting your arrival. In order to get here and get settled in time for the semester to begin, you will need to make arrangements to get here by August 4th. _

Wasn't tomorrow the fourth? She looked up at her calendar which confirmed it.

_If you have no way of getting here, please inform us and we will try to arrange it so it is possible._

"Whatever…" she muttered and tossed the paper onto her bedside table. "There's no way I can get there by tomorrow even if I wanted to."

Sandra reached for her cell phone and dialed her best friend's number. Her friend had been sick and had not been able to go see the movie with them, so Sandra figured the least she could do was to call and check up on her.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sandra could hear the other girl sniff on the other end.

"Like crud. I hate being sick!" Another sniff. "How was the movie?"

"It was alright. Brad Pitt was a total cheese head, though."

"I don't know why you're always on him. He's a hottie."

"Not really."

"Well, whatever. Your loss." The other girl sneezed.

Sandra waited patiently as the other girl blew her nose. "How was your day?"

"Other than me being sick, it was just great," the sarcasm was obvious in her voice. "How about yours?"

"It was fine. I got a really weird letter saying I got accepted to some college in the Caribbean and I don't even remember applying."

"You must have for them to say you've been accepted."

Sandra looked down at the letter again. "You're probably right, but why would I want to go to the Caribbean for college?"

"I don't know," another sneeze. "They probably have you mixed up with some other Sandra."

"Yeah, but how many have my address?"

The other girl laughed. "Only one that I know of."

Sandra giggled. "Yeah, but whatever, right?"

"Right."

There was a knock on Sandra's bedroom door. She quickly looked up at it. "Hang on, ok?"

"Ok."

"Yeah?" Sandra called to whoever it was outside her door.

"You need to get ready for bed," came her Mom's reply.

"Alright," she turned back to her other conversation. "Hey, I've got to go, ok? Mom wants me to get to bed."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

Sandra quickly changed her clothes and brushed her teeth before laying down with her small TV playing one of her favorite movies. The last thing she remembered, a couple guys were chasing each other in their cars down a crowded street.

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_Bang! Bang!_

"Come on! Get up, ye lazy scallywags! Ye can't expec' ta sleep all day!"

Sandra's eyes jerked open to unfamiliar surroundings. She was lying on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed and there was another bed across the room from hers. The walls were a cream color and all the furniture was wooden. Wooden desk, wooden chairs, wooden trunk for clothes. The desk stood under two windows on the north wall and the trunk sat at the foot of the other bed.

"Ye better be gettin' up!" Came a shout from the same person who woke them up. "If ye don' hurry ye won' be gettin' breakfast!" It was a female, as if it mattered.

Sandra slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. A blonde girl in the bed next to hers was doing the same. Another girl dropped down from the top bunk and landed with a thud. She too had blonde hair, but it was darker than the other girl's. The second blonde quickly looked around the room before locking eyes with Sandra.

"Where am I?" She asked, looking over at the other girl as well.

"I don't know," Sandra replied with a shrug.

"Who are you two?" The second blonde asked, her blue-green eyes hesitantly scanning them both.

"I'm Elisabeth, but call me Lissie," the standing blonde answered immediately.

"I'm Sandra. Who are you?"

"I'm Catalina," she slowly stood and looked around the room.

"What d' ye think ye all are doin'?" Came the shout from the girl waking everybody up. "Ye can't stay in bed all day!"

"We're bloody comin'!" Lissie shouted, obviously aggravated.

As she stalked towards the door, Sandra noticed Lissie was not wearing what she considered normal clothes. It was more of what one would find in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Catalina, on the other hand, was wearing a yellow t-shirt and baby blue pants. It was obviously her pajamas as were Sandra's present clothes.

Lissie jerked the door open with obvious agitation and quickly disappeared down the hall, leaving Sandra and Catalina to themselves. The two stepped out of their room and glanced around at the other students slowly filing out of their rooms. All looked a bit hesitant, but some tried to hide it.

As Sandra joined the mass of students walking down the hall, she noticed most of them were girls except for a sort of scrawny boy with dirty-blonde hair who distanced himself from the group. He too was wearing clothes like Lissie as were several others.

The group made their way out of the dormitories and outside where the smell of the sea was strong. They could hear the ocean waves breaking on the beach as they followed a gravel path to a large, white building. It would have been a peaceful morning, but all the students were wary of their new surroundings.

"Hurry up!" Came yet another shout from the girl who had woken everybody up. She stepped around the side of the large white building and crossed her arms at the slow-paced students. Her medium length brown hair blew freely in the wind and her clothes were that of a pirate.

"What more can you expect from us?!" Shouted a girl who had wavy, red, shoulder length hair that eventually became a sun bleached blonde color at the bottom. "You woke us up in a strange place and you expect us to be ok with that?"

"No, but the head-master does," came the reply. "If ye want t' get on her good side, ye'll hurry up and not complain."

She critically eyed the students with her bright hazel eyes as they walked up to her. A frown appeared on her face when she noticed some of the clothes they were wearing. "She warned me some of ye would be from a different time period, but I didn't expect this many…Ye will especially not complain! Especially about the food here…"

"What's wrong with the food here?" Asked a tall girl with orange and black hair.

"Oh nothing bad," the other girl replied immediately. "Ye wouldn't be too fond of it, though."

At the quizzical look many of the students gave her, she quickly added, "It's pirate food."

Many of the students still gave her a confused look, but she did not elaborate on her statement. Instead, she ignored their gazes and began to lead them into the large white building. The doors were large, wooden, and old looking. But the doors did not compare to the huge entrance hall that greeted them when they passed through them. It was complete with all of the fashionable items of that time such as vases, elegant support beams, candles on the walls, a large stair case, and even a chandelier.

Many students were amazed at the beauty the room exhibited. They had not imagined they would be able to see a room like this in person, much less be able to enter one. It seemed to be even grander than Elizabeth Swann's entrance hall! These people who owned it were obviously filthy rich.

The brown haired girl snickered at the response the room received. "I'm sure this room gets a great deal of this."

"You mean you've never been here before?" Lissie asked suddenly. "I figured you worked here…or…something."

"No, this is my first time here too," she answered. "My entrance hall back home is better than this, though. Oh, m' name's Angel, by the way."

"Mine too!" A short, brown haired girl exclaimed.

Angel smiled at the short girl before turning her attention to a girl with black hair and brown highlights who was obviously frustrated at her. "Why'd you wake us up and act like you're all high and mighty and in charge when you're not? You don't work here!"

"On the contrary," Angel held up a finger. "I happen t' be a tutor here. I only got th' job because I did s' well on the test and th' head-master put me in a slightly higher position than th' rest o' ye. I be a student here too, though. Only reason for tha' was because she didn't have me listed as a teacher."

"What test?" Asked a tall girl with long, brown hair.

"Th' head-master makes ye take a test t' see wha' level ye're on in pirating, as she put it," came the reply.

"How come you got to take it early?" Asked a girl in the back of the group with wavy, black hair and who looked to be Asian.

"I got here early with Jack," her answer was greeted to several squeals from many of the girls in the group. "I see Jack has many admirers…"

"Do we get to meet the Captain?" Asked the girl with the black hair and brown high lights. She seemed to have forgotten any anger towards Angel at the mention of Jack Sparrow.

"Eventually, I suppose," Angel shrugged and was met with more excited squeals. She giggled before saying, "Ye all need t' get something t' eat, if ye can stand pirate food."

Angel led the group down a nearby hall and through a large dining room. Some were expecting to be able to eat there, but were disappointed when their group leader did not stop. Instead, she led them through the kitchen and into what used to be a servant's dining room.

The students eyed the rough, grey wooden tables and chairs warily. They had not expected such a low treatment even some of them were in a different time period.

"Well, go on!" Angel urged them. "The food isn't tha' bad, I promise."

"If ye say so…" the boy of the group muttered almost to himself as he began to make his way to the farthest table away from the group of girls.

Sandra slowly followed Catalina to a table as the rest of the group began to spread themselves out in the room. She preferred to be with some one from her own time period, even if she did not know her.

Another girl accidentally bumped into their table before quickly muttering an apology. She quickly sat down beside Catalina with out making eye contact with either girl. Her black, waist length hair fell around her face, making almost a shroud that kept the world out.

Sandra looked down out of curiosity at the meal that had been placed before her. There were two pieces of bread that looked to be old, stale biscuits and a few slices of meat. She was not sure what the drink was, but it was probably some kind of alcoholic beverage.

She looked up at the two girls before her. Catalina's plate was receiving a similar reaction, but the black haired girl was slowly eating hers.

"So, um, my name's Sandra," the girl said in as friendly a tone as she could muster at the moment. "What's yours?"

"Sharks have to continuously swim in order to breath," came the reply with out even glancing up from her plate.

Catalina and Sandra exchanged confused glances before she asked, "Excuse me?"

"Lobsters are the cockroaches of the sea."

Sandra did not try again and neither did Catalina. Both girls contented themselves to sit quietly and attempt to choke down their first meal in this strange, new land.

_Oh, man…_ Sandra thought to herself as she took a bite of the bread. It was tasteless and hard. _If the rest of my time here is going to be anything like how just this one morning has turned out, I'll be in trouble._

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**A/N:** I'm having so much fun just writing this story it's not even funny. Ok that was weird. Please review!


	3. Tests and Swordfights

A/N: Yes! Everybody was in character last chapter! I was trying my hardest to keep it that way, so if you notice you or your OC are out of character, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC or any of these characters except for Sandra and (my) Angel. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write this one. Credit also goes to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 3

Angel had watched and laughed to herself as her "students" and fellow classmates had poked at their food uncertainly. Well, they weren't really her students considering she was a student too, but she would tutor those who needed help. But whatever they were to be called, it had been quite humorous watching the ones from the twenty-first century poke at and eventually give in and eat their meal.

It had been like that for her when she had first been given "pirate food" too. She had not been a pirate all her life, but had been kidnapped by pirates at the age of fourteen. It was still a mystery to her why they had not killed her along with many of the people she knew, but the captain had insisted on her staying on their ship. The other pirates had not liked the decision, but never mentioned it unless they were sure they were alone. She figured the captain kept her because she reminded him of the daughter he once had, but she did not like to dwell on the past. Well, except for when the Pearl attacked the ship she was on and Jack's crew accidentally rescued her. She liked that part.

But now was not the time to think of her past. She had to focus on her present and the students she had to administer a test to.

Angel took one more sip of rum from her brown mug and stood. Most of the students were finished with their meals and were attempting to make small talk except for the boy that sat by himself.

"Alrigh', everyone, you had better eaten all ye want 'cause it's time for yer tests!" She hollered to them, even though there was no real need to yell. She just liked to be heard.

"What if we don't want to take it?" Asked the girl with shoulder length, red hair that became blonde at the bottom.

"Wha's yer name?" Angel asked as she strolled up to the girl.

"Christine Gabriella Martin," she replied, slightly annoyed that her question had not been answered.

"Well, Christine, you don' have a bloody choice!" The brown haired girl said quite a bit louder than was necessary. "None of you have a choice. Ye either take it, or you start from level one in pirating. Which will it be?"

There was silence among the students as some turned to their newly established acquaintances and whispered to one another. Finally Christine spoke quietly, "I'll take the bloody test…"

"Can't we drop out if we want to?" Asked the girl with long, orange and black hair.

"No," Angel replied. "Once yer here, yer here. Besides, most of you wouldn't have a place ta go if you were ta drop out." She let the truth sink in momentarily before adding, "I'm sorry if I'm hard on ye, but I don' like quitters and I'll push each and every one of you as hard as necessary for you ta go on. Ye may not like me sometimes, but we'll all be alrigh'. I promise."

The students were again silenced. The authority that came from this one girl was almost frightening. And she was not even a teacher! She was just a student and a tutor.

"If ye'll all follow me, I'll give take you ta where ye take yer test," Angel finally broke the silence and began leaving the room with out waiting for anyone.

The group scrambled after her, not wanting to be left alone in a strange place without someone who knew their way around it. They followed her back through the kitchen and down a small hallway to their right. A cozy study greeted them at the end of the hall. The rug was plush and red and thin, white curtains fluttered lazily in front of the open windows. An empty fire place stood behind a large wooden desk and bookshelves lined the wall just to their right.

"Everyone take a seat," Angel ordered as she sat on the edge of the wooden desk herself. Students grabbed chairs from their original locations and pulled them around to the front of the desk. Those who did not have chairs either leaned on the wall, or sat on the floor. "Alrigh' before we start, I wan' ta go around the room and learn yer names and a bit about you so I know who I'm yellin' at."

A chuckle ran through the group.

"Lets start with you," Angel pointed to a girl with dark, blonde hair and blue eyes who sat on the floor next to the door.

"Um, alright," she began. "I'm Elisabeth Turner, but call me Lissie. Um…I have been on a ship all me life and I know a fair amount about them. I have a lot of pirate skills because I've been with them for most of my life. I hate rum and I'm allergic to cats."

Some students laughed to themselves at the last sentence. After the laughter died down, Angel motioned for some one else to go next. After a moment of silence, the other Angel spoke.

"I'm Angel, but you can call me Angela so that way we won't get mixed up. I love a good adventure and I'll probably get one here! I love candy and a guy back in my time named Mike," she paused for a second and shrugged. "Um, I guess that's it."

"Alrigh' next," the brown haired girl on the desk said with a glance around the room. She spotted the girl with black hair and brown highlights and motioned for her to speak.

"I'm Emma Moineau and I'm from London, England," she said. "I'm Indian, French, British, Polish, and Portuguese. I don't take crud from anyone. I have a brother and a sister and a step-mom and step-dad. And I'm looking forward to this class."

"Good!" Angel said with a smile and looked around the room again and spotted a boy with dirty-blonde hair. "Since yer the only boy in the class, go ahead and tell us a bit about yerself."

He looked up with a look of surprise then quickly wiped the expression from his face. "I'm Benjamin O'Flaherty. I'm good at pick pocketing. I can't set foot on a ship or I'll be seasick and sometimes I can't sleep at night."

Angel was obviously waiting for more, but he said nothing else. She shrugged and only said, "I have a brother named Benjamin." Then she motioned towards a girl with black, wavy hair who looked to be Asian.

"My name is Jibsi and I'm from Singapore. I'm Catholic, therefore I don't eat beef. I must have coffee every morning and chocolate everyday. I have asthma," she paused at some of the confused looks she was getting from the people from the seventeen hundreds. "It means sometimes I can't breath if I get scared or too excited."

Angel seemed a bit uncertain as to how she would affect the class, but it was not her job to run it. Just administer this first test and act as a tutor. She quickly shook the thought from her mind and motioned towards a girl with long, brown hair and blue eyes. "Why don't you go next?"

"Ok I'm Mary Parr and I'm from Metroville, California," she explained. "Um, I like chocolate and milk and I hate power-hungry people. I've never been on a ship before, but I know some about them."

She seemed hopeful that the last part would make up for her lack of being on a ship. Angel did not seem to pay the lack any mind as she said, "Alrigh' you next."

The girl with orange and black hair looked up and realized she was being spoken to. "Uh, I'm Emily. I love music like My Chemical Romance, Green Day, and stuff like that. I break out into song randomly and sometimes shout rum without warning."

Angel shrugged and said, "I have no idea who those are. You go next."

The girl with sandy-blonde hair quickly looked up at the girl on the desk and said, "I'm Sandra and I love the Pirates movies. Um, I don't know much about ships and the only time I've ever been on one was when I was little. I love music too and cappuccinos."

Again, Angel was left confused. "Still don't know wha' they are. Go ahead."

"I'm Christine Gabriella Martin," she began. "I'm from Tortuga, but I'm _not_ a prostitute. I hate those women. I was a seamstress then a bar maid. I can take whatever the world and this school throws at me."

"Good attitude, I suppose," Angel said and motioned to another blonde haired girl.

"I'm Catalina," she said. "I'm from the year 2007. I like movies with fast cars and car chases. I know just a little bit about ships, but I've spent a fair amount of time on them. I'd really love to learn how to be a pirate, though! I think it would be cool."

"Good! You'll learn here," the brown haired girl on the desk looked around the room once more and spotted a girl with black hair sitting alone in a corner. "And how about you?"

"I wouldn't ask her anything," Sandra spoke up.

"Why?" Angel turned her green eyes to the girl.

"She's very…random…" Catalina supplied. "She doesn't answer your questions."

Angel furrowed her brows and looked back to the girl. "She'll have to learn. Tell me, what's your name? And answer my question."

The girl in the corner squirmed uneasily as all eyes turned to her. Finally she said almost inaudibly, "Mei Yung."

Angel continued watching her for a few more seconds before looking back to the class and shrugging. "Good enough."

The girl reached around behind her to a pile of papers none of the other students noticed until now. She stood and began handing them out. "These are yer tests. I would advise ye not ta cheat 'cause this is only to see wha' level yer at. Ye won't fail it. After ye take the tests, give 'em back ta me and go outside ta the backyard. Will is goin' ta test yer sword fighting skills. Alrigh'? Any questions?"

The room remained silent. The group was just eager to get started with this and go see Jack and Will…whenever that would happen.

"Alrigh' then. Go ahead and begin," Angel announced after the moment's silence. She made sure each student began their tests before turning and leaving the room.

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Angel returned to the group half an hour later to find only Lissie, Sandra, and Emily finished. She silently gathered up their tests so as not to disturb the others and led the three out of the study. They followed her obediently down the hall and through the dining room they had eaten, or at least choked down, their breakfast. The brown haired girl opened a back door and sunlight streamed in, temporarily blinding them.

"Here they are," they heard Angel call to someone.

As soon as their vision grew used to the light, they spotted Will standing out in the sun, holding a sword that glistened in the sunlight.

"Oh good," Will sheathed his sword and walked up to the group. Emily accidentally let a small squeal escape. "Hello, ladies. My name's William Turner."

Sandra and Lissie nodded politely and gave the appropriate response. Emily was barely able to reply with out squealing again, but she managed it.

"These girls got done with their tests first," Angel explained as she motioned towards the three girls. "I, well the head-master, needs you to test their sword fightin'."

"Alright, no problem," he replied and turned to the three. "Who's first?"

"Me!" Emily answered immediately.

Will chuckled and nodded, "Fine. Come with me and I'll get you a sword."

When the two were finally out of earshot, the three remaining girls began snickering.

"Looks like Will's got an admirer too," Sandra laughed.

"Aye, it does," Angel replied with one last chuckle. "Alrigh', you two, I'm going to go see who else's done. I'll be righ' back. Don't go anywhere."

"We won't," Lissie promised as the two watched the brown haired girl disappear back into the house.

The two leaned up against the building behind them and watched as Emily and Will began to swordfight. She fought very well. Much better than Sandra expected from some one from the twenty-first century and much better than she herself could do.

The two stood in silence, both watching the swordfight in progress. Sandra wished she could think of something to talk about. She had always hated these type of lulls that never seemed to have an end. But she could not think of anything they had in common.

A few more minutes passed before Angel appeared again with Mary, Emma, and Benjamin. She gave these three the same instructions about not going anywhere before she left once again.

A few seconds later, Will and Emily returned to the house. Emily wore a big grin as she took her place with the rest of the students.

"Alright, next?" Will asked.

"I'll go," Lissie pushed herself away from the building and followed Will out into the open.

Sandra watched them go and leaned her head against the building. "I'd kill for a mocha latté right about now…"

A couple of the other students agreed with a chuckle as Angel once again appeared with Angela, Catalina, Jibsi, Mei, and Christine.

"Sorry ta leave ye again," Angel said, looking a little exasperated. "Jack was supposed to be here righ' now. I have to go find him so he and I can test yer sword fighting skills as well. It's too much work for poor Will."

More excitement spread through the group as the girl began to leave. Suddenly, she turned back towards the group and added, "Emily, ye can rest since you've already been tested. Be sure ta tell Lissie that when she gets done."

"I will," Emily nodded, still happy from her experience with Will.

Angel disappeared into the house again, this time calling Jack's name. Some of the girls giggled excitedly at the chance to see their favorite pirate captain. The listened to Angel's calls in hopes of hearing Jack reply, but they never heard him and eventually Angel was out of earshot. Soon impatience began to settle over some of the girls. They eventually had to content themselves to thoughts of Jack.

"Someone lookin' for me?"

Several heads turned so fast they almost got whiplash. Jack had walked up along the backside of the building without anybody taking notice. In one hand was a half-full bottle of rum, of course. A few squeals escaped from the group and especially from Sandra for the man was right in front of her.

"Angel was lookin' for you," Jibsi supplied then pointed back towards the door. "She went back inside lookin' for you."

"She'll be back out 'ere in a minute," he replied casually as he took another drink of his rum.

The girls who had massive crushes on the man did not even glance away when Will walked back up to them with Lissie.

"Ah, Jack," he said, "you're finally here. Where's Ang-"

"Sorry, I can't find 'im," Angel explained to the group as she emerged from the house. "He's prob- Jack! Took you long enough ta get here."

"So sorry, love," he replied in a way that implied he was not really sorry for anything. "Had ta get me rum."

"I'd better get a drink," she ordered good naturedly. "Alrigh', people, us three are all goin' ta test yer sword fighting. Now who do I get?" Jibsi lifted a hand and walked over to the girl. "Good. You girls and Benjamin work it out amongst yerselves about who will get Jack and Will."

The two walked out into the open area, leaving the group of love-struck Jack fan girls to tear each other apart. Luckily, that never happened. Will took Benjamin and left while Jack had fun teasing each of his fan girls over which he would pick to swordfight with first.

"Lessee…" he looked over the group, pointing randomly at one girl or another and getting her hopes up before pointing at another one. Finally, he pointed at one girl and did not pick another. "Wha's yer name?"

"E-Emma Moineau," she replied excitedly, pushing her way through the group to the man.

"Emma, you'll do," he began walking away and tossed over his shoulder, "Come on."

She excitedly followed the man out into the open backyard.

Sandra crossed her arms and grumbled something under her breath. Many of the other girls had similar reactions, she noticed. Others did not seem to mind as much. With a sigh, she leaned against the building and hoped she would get to fight next.

Angel returned to the group shortly after Jack left and looked around the group. She pointed to Sandra and said, "You, come on."

The girl's mouth dropped as Angel began leaving. She wanted Jack to test her! There was no time to argue, so she reluctantly hurried after the brown haired girl. Surely she would get a chance to be alone with Jack sometime during this class.

Their fight went by fairly fast, or so Sandra thought. She had no clue how to swordfight. The most she knew was how to hold the sword and that she had to block her opponent's sword. And with Angel, blocking was not always easy. This girl was obviously an expert fighter. But before she had much of a chance to think, she was being brought back to the group to girls.

Will and Benjamin came back to the group as Angel and Sandra did and Catalina quickly volunteered to be Will's next partner. Angel picked Mei out of the group to be her next partner.

Sandra sat down on the cool grass, exhausted after such a short fight. She noticed Jack and Emma returning to the group and jealousy filled her. That was supposed to be her!

After another round of teasing and pointing, Jack picked Angela and the two walked off together. Will and Catalina returned shortly and as Christine was the only person who had not been tested, she became Will's partner.

-------

At the end of their fighting session, they all gathered around Angel, who began laying down the rules that the head-master had laid down for her.

"Those of you in…odd…clothes need to go into town and buy some pirate clothes," she explained and passed out some money she had been given. "In other words, man's clothes. You can buy a dress too, if ye 'ave enough money and if ya wan' ta. Don't leave this area. You all must 'ave a partner with ye at all times. Nobody's ta go off by theirselves. Any questions?"

Silence greeted Angel, Jack, and Will. The girl smiled. "Good. Ye 'ave the rest of the day ta rest and get somethin' ta wear. Come get somethin' at eat now. Supper's at sundown."

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**A/N:** The end of chapter three! Yay me! Though the sword fighting part seemed a little rushed to me…That might just be me though. Please review! Oh, Flightstorm, is it alright to call Benjamin Ben for short?


	4. Around Town

A/N: Here I am! Back and listening to Hilary Duff's new CD Dignity. It's really good. You should go listen to it. But anywho, thanks for the support so far, guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC or any of the students except for Sandra or my Angel. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write this and credit does to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 4

The lunch that the students were served was not much better than the breakfast most had choked down. This meal received a similar response, though Emma spoke the question that was on everyone's mind, "Why do we have to eat this stuff?"

And Angel had replied simply, "You don't. But I'd advise you to if you don't want ta starve."

This was not exactly the answer she was looking for, because she was want to know the _reason_ they were being forced to eat it. But she did not press the matter.

After the student ate their lunch, some more reluctantly than others, they split up into two groups: one from the twenty-first century and one from the seventeen hundreds, except for Mei who went with the twenty-first century girls with out a word. None asked her why, but just accepted her presence.

As the seven girls walked down the gravel drive that led away from the school, they chatted about their homes, their families and friends, and how much they already missed air conditioning and other modern conveniences such as computers, MP3 players, iPods, and cappuccinos. All wondered how they had managed to go back in time and how they would be able to get back to their timeline. None had an answer.

Sandra glanced back over her shoulder just as the school's gravel drive met with the main road. Mei walked along silently in the back of the group, not making eye contact or conversation with anyone. Sandra slowed her pace so that she was walking beside the girl with black hair.

"Are you ok?" Sandra had never encountered someone as quiet as this. "Are you sick or…something?"

Mei shook her head ever so slightly.

"Is something wrong then?" She asked, trying to get the other girl to make eye contact, but failed.

Again, she was greeted with another small shake of her head.

Sandra sighed in defeat. If the other girl wanted to talk, she would. The two walked along in silence at the back of the group. The girl with sandy blonde hair hated to leave Mei all by herself, so she stayed with her.

As Sandra looked back up, she saw the Mei was about to walk into a pole. "Mei, watch out!"

But it was too late. The other girl had run right into the pole and had fallen on her back. The other girls in the group turned and hurried back to the black haired girl who lay on her back. A chorus of "Are you ok?" sounded from the girls as Mei's eyes darted from each of them, wondering what had happened. Finally, a laugh emitted from the girl on the ground and she slowly stood and wiped her clothes off.

"Are you alright?" Angela asked, noting that she had a large red mark on her forehead.

"I'm fine," Mei laughed, brushing off her back as best as she could.

"Didn't you see that pole?" Emily asked as the group began walking along again.

"No, I wasn't looking," came the reply slightly quieter than when she had spoken only seconds earlier.

Sandra sensed that the girl would go back into the shell she used to keep the world out, so she quickly said, "Since you're finally talking, don't get quiet again. We won't bite."

Mei chuckled at the joke. "I'll try."

-------

The girls had managed to locate one of the two clothing stores with the help of various members of the town. It was the smaller of the two and they knew this because they had unknowingly passed by the larger clothing store during their trek of the town. The town was small enough, but would be easy to get lost in because a lot of the buildings looked very similar and most of the residents of this side of the island lived in the town, making it somewhat busy during the day.

The group entered into the clothing store and was greeted by a woman who was busy messing with a shirt. She glanced up at the large group with a smile and called, "Welcome! If you need any help, let me know."

"We will," Catalina returned as the girls split up and began searching the clothes.

Surprisingly enough, there was a wide variety of clothing, at least for women which was not what they were looking for. They had been sent to find "man's clothes," as Angel put it so that they would be able to perform their pirate duties. Mei seemed to be the only one actually looking to buy a dress, considering she already wore pirate clothes.

After a long while of looking and trying on clothes, the girls finally found an outfit each that would hopefully do until they could visit the other clothing shop whenever they had enough money again. Mei also bought a flowing, red dress.

The woman, who began getting curious about their reasons for trying on men's clothes, finally asked as they paid for their clothes, "Why are all you lovely young women buying these clothes? You would all look beautiful in dresses." When she spotted Mei's dress, she quickly added, "Wonderful choice in a dress, there."

"We need these clothes for our line of work," Angela replied quickly.

"I would love to buy one of these dresses," Mary added, looking longingly at some hanging on a nearby rack.

"But we can't today," Sandra said as she tapped Mary's arm a couple times to get her attention.

The woman shrugged and continued about her business as the group left. It didn't matter to her what they bought so long as she was getting paid.

The group exited the store and began walking, but none of them really knew where they were going until Emily asked, "Hey, could we go to the pub? You know, just to see what it's like and where it is?"

Most of the girls shrugged and agreed and they headed off in the direction of the pub. They only knew where it was thanks to their escapade of the town. They knew where a lot of things were such as the blacksmith shop, a restaurant, and the clothing stores. Well, they had a vague idea of where those places were located.

They arrived at the pub which had quite a few men in there, considering it was in the middle of the day. Mei, Sandra, Emma, and Catalina were intimidated by the drunks and the noise, so they decided to go for a walk along the docks in hopes of seeing the Black Pearl. Emily, Jibsi, Mary, and Angela entered the pub without a second thought.

"You like rum?" Jibsi asked as she watched Emily count up her remaining money.

"Yeah," Emily replied. "It's really good. You want some?"

The black haired girl shook her head and motioned back towards a table as she said, "I'm going to go sit with Mary and Angela over there, ok?"

"Sure," Emily nodded and headed towards the bar.

Jibsi hurried over to the table, careful to avoid any drunks who looked as though they would fall out of their seats. She sat down in a chair next to Mary just as Angela said, "It's kind'a funny, though, don't you think?"

"What?" The black haired girl asked.

"We were just saying how it's weird that these men are getting drunk in the middle of the day," Mary explained. "They must not have jobs or something."

"Maybe this _is_ their job," Angela snickered to herself. Jibsi laughed as well, but Mary did not seem to think it was funny. Angela frowned and said, "You know I was just kidding, right?"

"Yeah," the brunette replied, looking at the men with pity. "I just feel sorry for them, you know? No job or anything…"

"They might have jobs, for all we know," Jibsi comforted.

Mary nodded just as Emily appeared at their table. "Look who I found."

The three girls sitting at the table looked up to see Lissie and Christine. Lissie did not seem to be very happy about being in a pub, but Christine was happily gobbling up a soft piece of bread.

Angela laughed and said, "Couldn't you get enough of that kind of food back at the school, umm… What's your name again?"

"Christine," she supplied with a smile. "I didn't want the meat they gave us, so I came here."

"She bought a new pair of shoes," Lissie said as she crossed her arms. "She wanted something else to eat, but she didn't have enough money for the restaurant."

"I take it you don't like pubs," Jibsi guessed.

Lissie shook her head. "It's not that I don't like pubs. I just don't like rum or all the drunken people that are in here all the bloody time."

Jibsi laughed and stood. "It's not my kind of place either. You want to go somewhere else? Maybe go see what Catalina and them found at the docks?"

"Sure," Lissie said with a shrug and the two exited the pub.

-------

Catalina, Mei, Emma, and Sandra had been walking along the docks, which there were a lot of, surprisingly, without spotting anything interesting. The first couple of ships had been cool, but the monotonous scenery grew old fast. The only change of scenery they had encountered was when they found Benjamin out on his own, which was against the rules Angel had laid down for them.

"I wasn't watching Christine and Lissie and accidentally wandered off," he had explained when questioned. He also added that he had managed to "pick up" a pocket watch and some loose change for more spending money. This made the three girls laugh, but Sandra had suggested he take it back. He never did.

The five once again began walking down the docks. As much as Sandra tried to talk to Mei to prevent her from getting quiet again, she could not think of much they had in common, so she mostly talked to Catalina and Emma. She also tried to have some conversation with Benjamin, but he was quiet like Mei, though not as painfully shy. For the most part, they continued on with only Sandra, Catalina, and Emma making conversation and Ben contributing an occasional sentence or two. It was like that until Catalina looked out to her left and stopped suddenly, causing Mei to bump into her back.

"Oh my gosh!!" The blonde squealed excitedly and pointed down the dock.

The other four looked down the dock to see the Black Pearl. It was even more amazing in person than on the movies, if that was possible. It was the very last ship on the docks so as to hopefully not draw attention from the villagers. No other ships were very nearby meaning it floated alone, looking very inconspicuous.

But these five noticed it and rushed over, Sandra, Catalina, Mei, and Emma running a little faster than Ben because they recognized it. As they neared it, they could see a few men walking about on the deck carrying some things or keeping watch.

Sandra, Catalina, and Emma squealed excitedly and began bouncing up and down like the thrilled fan girls they were and clutched onto each other's arms as they jumped. Mei and Benjamin laughed at their reaction. Several men on deck rushed to the side to see what the commotion was about, but frowned when they saw the four girls.

"Wha' ye be doin' down there?" One of them shouted.

Catalina, Emma, and Sandra quickly stopped jumping as Benjamin called up, "They just got a little excited."

"Ye best be steppin' back from this ship," he warned. "Jack don' care for strangers ta be up nex' ta 'is ship."

"But," Emma protested, "Angel didn't say we couldn't come up to the Pearl!"

"Bloody woman…" they heard him mutter then shouted back to them, "Jack tol' us not ta let any of ye get on 'is ship yet. Angel prob'ly fergot ta tell ye not ta come 'ere, if she be in charge of ye."

This was met with a series of groans and complaints from the girls who, at the very least, wanted to get close enough to touch it.

"Go on, then!" He ordered and quickly left that side of the Pearl so as not to have to listen to anymore whining or complaints.

As soon as he and the other crew members were out of sight, Emma reached out and touched the hull of the ship. With quiet snickers, Catalina, Sandra, and Mei reached out and did the same thing. Ben, who didn't really see what the big deal was, shrugged and touched the ship as well then followed the girls back down the docks and away from the Pearl.

Just as they were rounding a corner of a building to go back into town, the heard some one call their names. The five stopped and turned to see Lissie and Jibsi hurrying to them. The waited for a moment until the two other girls caught up to them.

"Did you find anything?" Jibsi asked excitedly.

"Yeah, the Black Pearl's over there," Emma pointed back over her shoulder. "The crew won't let us get close to it, but we touched it anyway."

"Really?" Jibsi asked with a grin and looked to the ship. "You think they'd notice if I sneaked up there to it and touched it?"

Sandra laughed as she replied, "Maybe not, just be sure not to scream like we did."

Jibsi laughed as she grabbed Lissie's arm and began dragging her along. "Come on!"

Lissie shouted something unintelligible as she was dragged down the docks. The five left remaining chuckled to themselves as they made their way into the town again.

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For some students like Emily, Emma, Sandra, and Catalina, the rest of the day was spent hanging around the school trying to "casually" bump into Will or Jack during the evening. For others like Mei and Benjamin, it was spent reading, or attempting to read, so as to avoid conversations. Angela, Lissie, and Mary spent their day out on the town, buying little trinkets with what money they had leftover. As for Jibsi, she talked with Angel or whoever else happened to be around the school in hopes of making friends.

Sundown came, and with it the students returned obediently to the school. The girls from the twenty-first century plus Mei and Christine all gathered in the small study at Angel's request and showed her their various purchases. She approved of their items, but noticed none of them bought any boots to go with the outfit, except for Christine. When she asked why, Sandra replied, "I didn't have enough money for any."

The other girls nodded in agreement, some mentioning that Christine had bought a pair, if that mattered.

"I thought I gave you all enough money…" Angel's brows furrowed, but then she shrugged. "The head-master probably didn't realize the price of shoes went up from her last class. I'll have it straightened out by tomorrow, alrigh'?"

The girls agreed.

"Alrigh', then, ye'll need ta wear yer new clothes tomorrow," Angel instructed as she stood. "But righ' now, it's time ta eat."

The girls readily followed her to the dining room where the other students and Jack and Will were waiting for their meal. Angel left the students and took a seat beside Jack and Catalina rushed to take the available seat beside Will, both girls causing jealousy to fill various other girls

Pushing her jealous attitude aside, Sandra took a seat at a table with Jibsi, Emma, and Emily. She noticed Emily and Emma were having similar reactions to Catalina and Angel's actions as well.

"Emily, at least you got to fight with Will," Sandra said. "And, Emma, you fought with Jack. You two have no real right to be jealous."

Emily nodded in agreement, but Emma did not seem to listen.

"Which of those two do you like?" Jibsi asked as she subtly pointed towards Jack and Will.

"Jack," Sandra replied with a sigh, trying to picture that it was her sitting beside him instead of Angel. "What about you?"

"I like Jack, but not like you and Emma do," she replied just as a plate of meat with some bread was placed in front of her. "Um, what is this?"

Emma took a bite and replied, "Tastes kind'a like beef or…something. Why?"

"I can't eat beef," Jibsi replied and pushed away the plate. "I'm Hindu."

Sandra glanced down at her plate then back up at the girl. "Does it bother you if we eat beef?"

"No, you're fine," she replied as she stood. "I'm going to talk to Angel and see if she can get me something else to eat."

Jibsi walked over to where Angel sat laughing at something Catalina said. The black haired girl waited patiently until the other girl looked up to her.

"Um, I can't eat this meal," she explained. "I'm Hindu, so I don't eat beef. Could you get me something else to eat?"

"Aye, I guess," Angel stood and left the table. Jibsi walked back to her own table and sat down. After a moment, a man appeared and took away Jibsi's first plate of food and set down another. Angel walked to the head of their table and asked, "Is that alrigh'?"

Jibsi took a small bite of the meat to make sure it was not more beef before nodding. "Yes, thank you."

"No problem," the brunette smiled and walked back to her table.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Sandra said, "I should've taken her seat while she was up."

Emma laughed and agreed.

-------

Sandra sat on her bunk and watched as Lissie showed her and Catalina the few trinkets she had bought while she was out during the day. It was hard to believe it had already been one day because of all the things they had packed into it. Sandra was exhausted and knew she would probably sleep well that night, but wasn't sure about the next night. She just hoped homesickness wouldn't set in too much.

The three heard a knock on the door before it opened to reveal Angel holding a lantern.

"You three alrigh' in here?" She asked as she stepped into the doorway.

The girls nodded and assured her they were.

"Good, well, I'm down the hall here," Angel said as she pointed to her left. "Call me if ye need me." She turned to leave, but quickly turned back to them. "Oh, you might wan' ta go ta bed now. Ye'll be gettin' up just as early tomorrow as you did today."

"We will," Lissie assured as she put up her trinkets.

"Good night," Sandra added.

"'Night," Angel replied as she shut the door.

The three girls climbed into bed and Catalina blew out the candle. The cool moon light shown in through the window and comforted Sandra. She already missed her family. Who knew when she would ever get back home? She positioned herself so that she could see out the window to the beautiful full moon that hovered over the ocean. Her eyes slowly began getting heavy and sweet sleep embraced her.

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**A/N:** Woot! Long chapter! Yay me! Ok, anyway. I hope you liked it and please review! Oh, and I have a forum too. Go look and submit something!


	5. Cooking With Elizabeth

A/N: Alrighty! I'm back and I'd like to thank all of you for supporting me and reading my stories! Thank you all!!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC or any of the students except for Sandra and my Angel. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write this one and credit goes to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 5

Angel glanced out the window to the beautiful Caribbean sunrise. The sky was stained with purple, orange, red, and pink, also coloring the rippling ocean beneath it. This was the scene she was used to seeing of a morning, but not from on land. She was usually on the Pearl, but for the length of these classes, minus any trips they might take on the ship, she was limited to land. Her eyes moved back to the blonde woman behind a large wooden desk who was busy fumbling with some papers.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to catch up with my work, Angel," the head-master mumbled to herself as her blue eyes flickered up to the brown haired girl who sat in a chair opposite her. "Honestly, I should have been working this out yesterday."

Angel watched her shove a couple papers out of the way before picking one up and holding it so the light from the sunrise would hit it so she could see. "When's Elizabeth gettin' here?"

The blonde woman shook her head. "She was supposed to come with Will, but she had to take care of a few things before she came so now she's coming with Norrington… How are we to conceal that this is a pirate school now?"

Angel gave an unconcerned shrug. "We'll think o' something. When they get here anyway?"

"Today."

"Ye've got a problem there," the brunette stood and turned to leave. "I'm goin' ta wake everybody. Have fun workin' out yer problem!"

The blonde woman rolled her eyes before looking out the window. She quietly cursed to herself before standing and walking to it. "They're here."

-------

"Wake up!" Angel shouted from the hall as she began banging on everyone's door. "Hurry up! You especially don't have all day today!"

Sandra mumbled something and pulled the covers up over her head. Getting up had never been easy for her.

"Get up!" Angel shouted as she burst into the room without regard for privacy.

The three girls in bed attempted shouting at the intruder, but she did not listen. She walked over to Catalina's bed and jerked the pillow out from under her head and whacked Lissie with it a couple times before yanking the covers off Sandra. "You don't have all day. Get up!"

"I'm up!" Lissie mumbled from the top bunk. This only earned another whack from Catalina's pillow.

"Norrington's here and the head-master wants everyone up immediately!" Angel explained, still shouting at them, though there was no reason to shout anymore.

"We're up," Catalina said drowsily as she slowly sat up in bed.

Angel tossed her the pillow back. "What pirates you will be if ye can't even get up when ordered to. Now get up!"

With that she left the room, slamming the door behind her and moving on to give more students the same treatment.

Lissie groaned and jumped down onto the floor. She slowly stretched and eyed her two roommates. "You'll prob'ly need to put on the clothes you bought yesterday. I'm going to see if Angel need help with getting the others up."

Lissie left the two others girls, who weren't as fast at getting up as she was, alone in the room. For a second, Sandra considered lying back down in bed, but having Angel shout at her first thing in the morning was not a pleasant experience that she wanted twice in one day. She stood and the two began working out a way to change their clothes in privacy.

-------

"So why were you in such a bloody hurry to get us up?" Christine asked after their breakfast which many of the girls were still hesitant about eating. The group had gathered in a large den towards the front of the house. The den was near the front entrance hall and had a clear view of the front doors.

Angel seemed to be distracted by watching the front doors, but answered the other girls regardless, "Elizabeth is here, but she had ta come with Norrington."

"So?" Lissie asked as she crossed her arms.

"So if ye will let me finish I'll tell you!" Angel returned her gaze to the students in the room. "Norrington is here and he don't know this is a pirate school. All of ya have ta give me yer word that you won't tell him it is…intentionally or otherwise."

All the students gave their word expect for Christine who asked, "And what's he going to do if he finds out? He's not in the bloody navy anymore."

"He still has enough influence that people will believe him if he says he's found a lot of new pirates," Angel seemed agitated as she gave the reply. "Now give me yer word."

"I promise…" Christine muttered to herself just as they heard the front door open.

Angel's eyes darted to the door before she quickly whispered, "He's here. All of ye, I need ye ta act like normal girls - and boy, in Ben's case, - and act like this is a normal school, alrigh'?"

She hopped up before the group could respond and hurried out into the entrance hall. Most of them hurried to the door to watch her, but Mei and Benjamin remained seated.

"Angel!" Elizabeth exclaimed as though she had not seen her in years. "How have you been? Last time I saw you, you were still busy being a pirate.

"Aye, and still am," the brunette replied with a chuckle as the two embraced. When they separated, she looked to Norrington and gave him a formal greeting. "Hello, Norrington."

"Good to see you too, Angel," he replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "This seems to be a first. Wherever you are, Jack is usually not far-"

"Ah, the ex-commodore!" Jack said as if on cue. He swayed towards the three, oblivious to the fact that Norrington probably should not have seen him as it would be a dead giveaway that pirates were nearby. "Wha' brings you here?"

"I had to escort Miss Swann here," he replied, looking rather disgusted at the pirate's usual appearance.

"Ah, well, she's 'ere, so you might as well be on yer way then," Jack suggested as he opened the front door for the other man to leave.

"I'm a bit curious as to _why_ exactly you and Angel are here, since your both pirates after all," he ignored the open door and walked further into the entrance hall before spotting the numerous students who had been spying on them. "Now who might these young ladies be?"

"You might wan' ta be careful about how you address them," Angel muttered as she walked towards them. "There's a boy here too." She reached out towards them and grabbed Mary's arm and pulled her out into the open. The other students followed her, some faster than others. "These young women and Ben are 'ere ta learn how to be…proper."

Norrington seemed to be amused by their appearance. So much so that he did not notice Will walk out into the entrance hall. "They wouldn't be pirates, would they?"

Some of the students looked shocked and it showed on their faces, but Angel, who was used to keeping a straight face in order to prove a lie true, was unfazed. "I told you. They're here ta learn how ta be proper. And…I am too, alrigh'? You happy now?"

Norrington chuckled to himself. "You might want to work on the accent you developed over the years of being with pirates."

"I will," Angel lied. "The head-master's upstairs and would be grateful if ya went and helped her with some o' the work she's got ta do."

The man nodded in agreement before eyeing the group of students once again. Then, with a chuckle to himself, he headed upstairs.

The tension among the group was immediately released when he disappeared out of sight. Some began laughing nervously to themselves as Angel led them to Elizabeth who had yet to meet them.

"Elizabeth, I expect you're ready to teach yer class?" Angel asked after she introduced everybody.

The blonde woman looked puzzled for a moment before she exclaimed, "Oh! Yes, the cooking class! Um, I suppose I'm ready…" She looked around the group before adding. "You know I'm more suited to clothing and that kind of thing, but not cooking."

Angel shrugged, "The head-master has ye down ta teach them how ta cook. Come on!"

The brunette led the group, including Jack and Will, to the kitchen where a couple of servants were finishing cleaning the plates and mugs from breakfast. After a few more moments, they politely excused themselves, leaving the group of pirates and soon-to-be-pirates to themselves.

Elizabeth, who seemed not to even know her way around a kitchen, fumbled around in various cabinets in hopes of finding an object to quiz the students over. Finally, feeling exasperated, she pointed to a large fireplace with a black cauldron hanging in it. "What's that?"

"A hearth," Christine answered immediately. "It's where you cook some of your food."

Elizabeth seemed impressed by her quick answer and pointed at a large white cone shaped item that sat on a wooden block. "How about that?"

"It's sugar," the red head replied again and motioned towards the black pliers that laid beside it. "The sugar is extremely hard in that form, so you have to use those special shears to cut however much you want."

Elizabeth was once again impressed as she continued quizzing the students on various objects in the room. Christine answered a lot of the questions, but other students soon piped up when they recognized, or thought they recognized, one of the objects in question. After finally questioning them on almost every utensil, she finally said the words the students were waiting for, "Well, since most of you seem to know a great deal about the kitchen, we'll start cooking."

Excitement, or dread for some, rushed through the students and they hurriedly prepared to cook their first meal. Hopefully it would be better than the junk they had been served the past day.

"If it turns out good," Elizabeth called over the chatter of the students, "this will be your lunch. If not…well…we can go to one of the restaurants."

Angel, who had kept her mouth shut the entire time, asked with what was almost an evil snicker, "What do Jack and Will get ta do?"

Jack shot her a look that she only laughed at as Elizabeth replied, "Um…They could cook if they want to, but I don't expect they do."

"I'm jus' 'ere ta watch any and everything that will go wrong," Jack explained quickly.

"Aye, me too," Will added so as not to get dragged into cooking.

"What makes you think something will go wrong?" Angel asked as she took a place at the counter with Emma, Christine, and Ben.

"Yer cooking, aren't ya?" Jack quickly shot back as more of a joke than an insult.

Christine rolled her eyes and looked back to Elizabeth who began giving instructions, though she had to repeatedly halt and ask the group what this or that item was. Finally, she pulled out a cook-book and began reading out how to make roasted pig because she was "in the mood for it."

The first problem in a soon-to-be long list was that they had no pig.

-------

Half an hour later and still one pig short, girls ran around the room screaming about how the room was on fire and left poor Benjamin to attempt to douse the small spark that had managed to ignite a nearby, dry chair by himself. Some of the more rational girls attempted to settle down the others, but it was to no avail. Jack and Will, who seemed to be the only ones who could possibly bring reason to this crazy situation, were about to laugh themselves into a coma near the door. Elizabeth was the one who was panicking the most, but she had a good reason because her skirt had caught on fire and all the screaming girls who refused to stop running around in circles hindered Ben's path to her.

Finally, Ben managed to douse the flame on Elizabeth's skirt which saved her much embarrassment and painful burns. His quick actions also saved her most of her skirt except for the very bottom which was black and flaky.

Soon, the girls exhausted themselves from running and came to a halt. The room was silent for a moment except for Jack and Will's hysterical laughter and an occasional cough from one of the students who happened to breath in a wisp of smoke.

Finally, Elizabeth, who was rather red in the face from the excitement and embarrassment, broke the silence, "Well, that didn't go as planned."

With a quick glance around the room, Angel quickly said with a look back to Jack, "That wasn't my fault!"

"No, it wasn't your fault, even though you're practically useless in the kitchen," Elizabeth admitted. "It was my fault. I'm sorry. I'm no help in kitchens either. I have no idea why I was assigned to teach you how to cook…"

"Um, I could teach them how to cook," Mary piped up. "But someone from this time will have to help me because I'm not familiar with everything."

"I can help," Christine volunteered and the two girls stepped up to the front of the group. "I was a barmaid and I've had to cook most of my meals from scratch, so I know how to cook."

Elizabeth seemed relieved to not have to teach them anything more about cooking or else even more chaos was bound to ensue. With a smile and a sigh, she said, "Thank you two so much. Does any one else know how to cook fairly well?"

Mei hesitantly lifted her hand only slightly above her head before she slowly and quietly made her way to the front of the group where Christine and Mary stood.

"Ok, good. Anybody else?" Elizabeth waited for a moment, but no one else raised their hand. "Alright, get to cooking!"

Elizabeth escorted Jack and Will out of the kitchen, thankful to get out of that room and away from anything that resembled the kitchen.

"Alright, let's get started!" Mary said as she lifted the cook book and studied it for a moment. "Since we don't have a pig…how about chicken? Does anybody object to having chicken for lunch?"

Nobody objected, but were just eager to get something to eat.

"Alright, um…Jibsi is it? You, Lissie, Benjamin, and…Angela? Right, you four go catch a few chickens," Christine ordered and the four left the room. "Emma, Sandra, Emily, and Angel, you four do what we say to the vegetables, any questions?"

The four remained shook their heads and Mary set about reading off the list of vegetables needed.

-------

"I feel like the grim reaper," Jibsi said after she finally caught the chicken she had been after for almost five minutes. "I'm taking this chicken to its death."

"Don't think of it that way," Lissie comforted as best as she could. "They're only chickens."

Jibsi agreed with a reluctant shrug as Angela and Ben finally reappeared from around the corner of the chicken house, both were rather muddy from having to chase the chickens all the way to the bank of a small stream that ran behind the house. The two appeared to be happy with their catch as they headed back into the house.

"I didn't know chickens ran that fast!" Angela exclaimed happily. "Ben caught his first then tried to help me 'cause I was having so much trouble. I still don't know how he got his so fast!"

"It's not that hard if you corner it," Ben said modestly, as the four entered the kitchen through the back door. The other seven girls were busy preparing the vegetables when they arrived back. "Who's going to kill the chickens?"

The girls preparing the vegetables stopped their work and looked back at the four who held the scared chickens. No one spoke because no one wanted to harm something that looked so terrified as those poor animals did now.

"How 'bout the most piratey person does it?" Angela suggested, but was met with silence which she took as an ok. "So, who's more of a pirate here?"

All eyes turned to Angel who was attempting to look inconspicuous by slicing a large carrot. "What?"

"Go kill the chickens," Christine ordered as she pointed back to the scared animals. "Bring them back when you've plucked them."

"No!" Angel shouted. "I may be a pirate, but I'm not bloody heartless!" She crossed her arms. "Get Jack ta do it. He be more likely ta do it than me."

"What am I going ta do?" Jack asked as he entered the kitchen again. Mei stood by the door and let out a small squeal of happiness as he entered which earned her an almost wary look from the man. "I came ta see how much progress you were makin', but ya 'aven't even started. What is it I'm going ta do?"

"Kill these chickens?" Emma stated as more of a question as she held hers up with a nervous smile.

"No," Jack seemed insulted by the request. "Why can't one of you do it? 'Ow 'bout him?" He pointed to Ben. "Can't he do it?"

Ben quickly shook his head as he shifted his chicken from one arm the other. Jack frowned and looked back through the group before shrugging. "Let Angel do it. She won't care."

"Jack!" Angel said a bit louder than necessary. "I do care! I won't kill these chickens!"

"Alright, then. Decide who'll kill them or put them back outside. Either way, hurry up. We're waiting."

Jack left the room and Mei, who had been tensed from excitement because he had stood beside her, finally relaxed. The group looked around at one another before making the final decision that would decide the chicken's fate.

-------

The lunch ended up being a vegetarian meal. None of the students wanted to kill the poor, helpless chickens who, as Jibsi later said looked, "…like they were using the puppy dog eyes on me!" The others agreed and the chickens were set free.

Even though the meal was made up of entirely vegetables, all the students agreed it was better than the slop they had been fed for their previous meals. Jack, on the other hand, felt it was his duty to complain and say it would have been better with some meat in it. Even though Will did not voice his opinion as freely as Jack, he still agreed it would have been a bit better. Elizabeth was the only one who took up for the students by saying they did a fine job with it.

Christine ended the meal with a laugh when she said, "Now if only we could teach the bloody cooks to cook like this!"

-------

**A/N:** You asked for more student interaction with Jack, Will, and Liz and you got it! At least to a degree. I had most of this chapter written up before you guys responded about it. You even got a little Norrington interaction too! There you go. Hope you liked it and please review!


	6. Carrie Ann

A/N: And welcoming back: Me! Just figured I'd give myself a special introduction, even though it's my own story. Anywho! Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC or any of the students except for Sandra and my Angel. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write this and credit goes to Camilla Sandman. (Wow this is getting boring. I'll have to fix it up next time somehow)

Chapter 6

Emily groaned to herself as she had to content herself to sitting by the small fire in the den after supper that night. Normally, she would have been listening to some music, but since she had none, she had to sit around and listen to Benjamin, Angel, Angela, Jibsi, and Lissie talk. She had no idea what the other four were doing, but it could not possibly be much more fun than this right now.

She shifted around in her chair, trying to find a comfortable position, but she was beginning to get sore from the day's exercises. First, their group had been ordered to run around in circles in the back yard several times in order to get in shape. Several of the girls had not been able to complete it and had to stop after the third or fourth circle. After that, Jack, Will, and Angel gave them more sword fighting lessons. This had proved exhausting for not just herself, but for everybody involved, including the three teachers. Their supper had been mediocre at best. She had come to the conclusion that none of the chefs here knew how to cook anything decently and began to agree with Christine about teaching them how to cook. She was about to mentally complain to herself when she quickly stopped herself. It was no use and it would only make her miserable. She was stuck here for who knows how long, so she might as well make conversation and not stick to herself the whole time. Or at least listen to the other girls present.

"You know," Angela began, "I've been wondering how exactly we got here."

Angel gave a small shrug as she continued watching the small fire jump around in the fireplace. "That's somethin' you'll have ta ask the head-master. I don't understand it m'self."

"Who is this head-master person?" Lissie piped up before any one else could speak. "And how come they haven't come to meet us yet?"

"She's been busy finishing up some business of hers," Angel explained, but offered no more information on her.

"Will we ever get to go home?" Jibsi asked.

"Prob'ly eventually," she replied, seemingly uninterested. "Ya have ta finish this class first, though, I figure."

"You know, I've been wondering," Emily began, "how did you pick us to be students?"

"Now that," Angel said as she stood and began to leave to room, "is something you'll have ta ask the head-master when ya meet her."

The four left in the room remained silent for a while. None of them knew exactly what to say to one another. But finally, Benjamin broke the silence. "Wonder what everybody else is doing?"

-------

"And that, loves, is 'ow I got off Rum Runner's Island," Jack concluded to the giddy, half-drunken girls that surrounded him. They, meaning Sandra, Emma, and Mei, all giggled excitedly, but why, they were not sure. Jack quickly looked up and motioned for a barmaid. "Another drink all around, please!"

"I'll be back in a min't, ok?" Sandra slurred as she stood, but grabbed onto the table for support. "Save m' place 'ere."

She slowly stumbled away from the table just as the barmaid brought their drinks. Everything seemed to be moving, even the floor. But somehow, she managed to stumble to the table where Christine, Mary, and Catalina sat, sipping their rum, or water in Mary and Catalina's case, in moderation.

Sandra grabbed onto their table so as not to fall over and eyed them happily. "Don' you guyses wanna come over to our table too?"

"No," Christine replied curtly with somewhat of an edge to her voice.

"No thanks," Catalina and Mary replied politely to the drunken girl.

Sandra gave them a vague shrug as if she did not really hear what they said and looked back over her shoulder when Emma called for her to hurry back. The girl gave the three a quick goodbye before stumbling back to her table.

"Cheers for Sandra!" Emma exclaimed randomly as she held up her mug of rum. "She didn' fall over once whe' she was walkin'!"

"Cheers!" Mei, who had become quite a bit more talkative now that she was drunk, agreed and raised her mug in a toast.

Jack and Sandra both raised their mugs. Once they touched, each pulled back their mug and took a long gulp of rum before slamming it back onto the table. The girls erupted into hysterical laughter for no reason other than they were drunk.

Christine watched them from their table and finally set down her mug of rum. "Looks like it's about time to take them back."

"What if they put up a fight?" Mary asked as the three stood.

"They're probably too drunk to know what's going on," Catalina replied, then added quickly, "Other than knowing Jack's there."

Christine grimaced slightly at the mention of the man, but forced herself to continue leading the other two girls to the table. The three stopped and surrounded the table, causing confusion amongst the girls whose minds were not working properly from all the rum. Jack, on the other hand, seemed pleased with the added company and ordered even more rum for all of them.

Catalina seemed excited that Jack had actually ordered her something, but Mary quickly burst her bubble by saying, "These girls have had enough to drink for one night. We're going to take them back to the school."

This was met with protests from the drunken girls who only wanted to spend the rest of their lives here with Jack, drinking all the rum they could and eventually drinking themselves into a coma. Christine silenced them with a sharp whap on their heads. None of them protested further.

"Come on, all of you," Christine ordered, obviously not in the mood to mess around. She grabbed up Mei and slung the other girl's arm over her shoulders, then said to the other two sober girls, "Get the other two and follow me."

Catalina helped Sandra up and Mary helped Emma. The two followed Christine as she navigated her way around the other drunken people and Jack followed from a safe distance, finishing off his bottle of rum.

After a few minutes of backtracking and circling around tables to avoid drunks, the group made it out of the pub in once piece.

"Beautiful night!" Jack exclaimed randomly, pointing out at the bay where the moon was low over the ocean.

"Le's go fer a walk!" Sandra suggested as she reached back towards Jack. "Jus' me 'n you, Jack!"

"An' me too!" Emma giggled, getting in on the "game."

"And me three!" Mei added happily.

"No one's going for a walk," Christine cut in, her voice betraying the slight frustration she felt. "Not unless you suddenly become sober."

The three drunken girls moaned to themselves and Jack laughed to himself.

The rest of their trek back to the school was fairly quiet because the girls were beginning to feel the side effects of the rum. Occasionally, one of them would complain that their head hurt, but it was otherwise silent.

The girls finally made it to the school and sneaked into the dorms, where the other students who had stayed behind now slept. Jack followed so as to try to help get them settled, but their progress was halted when they found Angel waiting for them in the hall.

"Where the bloody heck 'ave you been?" The girl exclaimed as she got up off a chair she had pulled up near the entrance. "If the head-master knew ya were out this late…"

"We're here now," Christine said quietly so as not to wake up the other students. "Just let us get them to bed."

"What?" The brunette approached them. "What's wrong with them?"

"They're drunk, love," Jack supplied as if it were no big deal.

Angel's eyes seem to widen to the size of saucers at the news. That was when she exploded. "Jack! I should 'ave yer bloody head for gettin' these girls drunk! You _know_ it's against the rules for them to get this drunk! Especially while they're at this school!"

"'Ow 'bout when we get on the ship?" Emma slurred and wobbled slightly, even though Mary still had hold of her.

"Then you'll be too busy ta get drunk," Angel replied, eyeing all three drunken girls.

"Love, if ya scold 'em now, they won't remember it tomorrow morning'," Jack said, taking control of the situation. "Let 'em get ta bed now and take care of it tomorrow."

Sensing this was more of a command from a captain than a request, Angel relented and allowed the sober girls to take the drunken girls to their bedrooms. Once they were settled and Jack had left for bed, the brunette explained that she would try to keep this from the head-master because the students did not yet know all the rules. For now, she would let them be, though they would get some punishment from her the next day.

"You'd better let them be!" Christine ordered after Angel had explained what would happen to the drunken girls. "They didn't know the rules and even you said so yourself."

Angel eyed the girl in a way that said she was not in the mood for this right now. Finally she muttered before walking down the hall to her room, "I'll deal with you in the morning."

-------

When Emma awoke the next morning, her head was throbbing and her throat was dry. She had no idea what had happened last night. The last thing she remembered was being at the pub with Jack and he had just begun telling her, Sandra, and Mei one of his many adventures. After that, everything was a blur.

She rubbed her face and sat up, gripping the side of the bed as her head began throbbing even worse. After the initial dizziness wore off, she noticed that Angela, Emily, and Mary had already left the room they shared. Angel must have decided she could let Emma sleep in late this morning.

With a sigh, Emma stood and slipped on her boots and left the room. Her head was throbbing even worse now, but she knew she could not stay in bed all day. She continued down the hall and left the dorm, but was immediately blinded by the unnaturally bright sun. The sounds of swords clanking against each other reached her ears and she realized the other students must have already eaten and be practicing their sword fighting now.

"Finally up?" She heard a girl call out to her. As her eyes finally adjusted, she could tell Elizabeth was talking to her. "I'm glad Angel let you three sleep late. You all needed it."

"What-" Emma began, her mind not focusing on the task at hand correctly. "What's going on?"

"Will and Jack are giving the sword fighting lessons and after that you'll be meeting the head-master," Elizabeth explained as she led the girl towards the group.

"Hey, what about Norrington?" The black haired girl's mind finally began operating correctly again, at least for the moment. "Doesn't he notice our swordfights?"

"I told him every girl needs to know how to use a sword, so that seemed to satisfy him."

Emma nodded absent mindedly as she joined the group. She noticed Sandra and Mei seemed to have the same far-off looks on their faces as well, as if they were not fully aware of everything that was going on either.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lissie asked as she approached Emma and Sandra after her turn of sword fighting. "Catalina told me what happened last night. Bloody awful."

"I'm ok," Sandra replied quietly, still looking off into the distance. Mei only nodded.

"See? This is why rum is no good," Lissie said with a chuckle before turning to talk with Angela.

After the swordfights ended, Jack and Will led the group to the large den they had occupied part of the day yesterday. Elizabeth and Angel had hurried to the kitchen in search of something that would freshen the three girl's breaths who gotten drunk the night before. If Sandra and Emma had not had such a horrible hangover, they would have tried to steal the seat on either side of Jack, but as it was, Jibsi and Catalina who got them. There was a small, yet silent, argument between Emily and Angela about who would get the remaining seat beside Will because Catalina also had a seat beside him. It was finally settled so that Angela got the seat.

"Well that was…" Will began, but never finished his sentence.

"How I always feel, mate," Jack finished for him with a smug look at being wanted by so many women.

Will ignored his comment and glanced to either girl on his side. Even though he feel a bit hesitant by the creepy smiles they each wore, he managed to ask, "So, uh, what did you say your names were?"

"Catalina!" The blonde answered immediately. "And I am exactly six-thousand days old today!"

Jack jerked his head around and lifted an eyebrow at her, wondering if she had gotten into his rum. All other students eyed her with an uncertain look.

She noticed this and quickly added, "Meaning I'm a little over sixteen and a half years old."

This made much more sense to the group, so they relaxed a bit. Will cleared his throat uncertainly and looked to the other girl beside him. "Um, so, what's your name?"

"Angela," she replied with a smile. "And I'm sixteen too."

"Me too," Lissie added. "Then again, you would know."

More confused looks were cast at the blonde and she added with a wave of her hand, "Will's my dad and Elizabeth's my mom."

Some of the girls from the twenty-first century who were obsessed with the movie began murmuring to one another. So Will and Elizabeth _did_ get married and have a child after all! For some, this brought joy that Jack and Elizabeth never got together, but others were not quite a pleased.

Just then, Elizabeth rushed into the room quickly followed by Angel, who almost looked a bit panicky. This, of course, was a new sight for all the students who were used to seeing the girl in control and confidant. For Christine, though, it provided pure joy.

"We asked the cooks what would rid you girls of the alcohol on your breath and they gave us some dried ginger for you to chew," Elizabeth explained quickly as she passed out the spice to the three. They slowly, almost hesitantly, put it in their mouths and began to chew. All three made a face at the distinct flavor. "Just keep chewing it."

Angel quickly glanced over her shoulder before turning back to the students and whispering, "She's coming! Don't say a word 'bout last night!"

Just then, a woman with shoulder length blonde hair entered the room. She carried about her an air of authority as she looked over the students with almost a critical eye. Finally she spoke, "What are your names?"

They all introduced themselves in turn, except for Mei who remain quiet in her corner. The woman did not take notice as she continued, "My name is Carrie Ann and I am in charge of this-" she quickly glanced over her shoulder to see if Norrington was around, "pirate school. I'm sure you all have questions that my fine teachers could not answer, so if you would like to ask me what's on your mind, feel free to do so."

Angela immediately raised her hand. Carrie Ann nodded for her to continue. "How did you pick _us_ to be the students?"

"Some of you were already close to being pirates, but just needed a push in the right direction," the woman explained. "Others of you displayed qualities that I thought would work well for piracy."

"Will we get to go home after this?" Jibsi asked.

"If you so desire. Of course, you could always stay in this timeline and work as part of a crew, but that decision is entirely up to you. Any other questions?"

"Why the bloody heck do we have to take this class?" Christine asked a bit louder than was necessary.

"Simply because you're here," Carrie Ann explained, frowning at the tone the girl had taken with her. "I expect you not to take that tone with your superiors again," she looked around at the whole group and added, "I'm sure Jack, Will, and Angel have explained all the rules to you."

Will gave Jack and Angel a quick look, but Jack did not look back and Angel occupied herself with a spot on the carpet to avoid the blonde woman's gaze.

Carrie Ann frowned at the response. "Obviously not, then. I expect them to inform you of all the rules today and for you to have memorized all of them. Now if there are no more issues to discuss, I will be getting back to my office."

She allowed a brief moment of silence to pass before turning and leaving the room. As soon as she knew the woman was out of ear shot, Lissie murmured to herself, "That wasn't what I had bloody expected."

-------

**A/N:** Ah! Abrupt stop, yes, but it's like one in the morning and I'm tired. Anywho, I have an announcement!

**I need an assistant/secretary type person for Carrie Ann!! If you or your OC is interested, either tell me in the review or email/PM me. Just so you know from the get-go, you will not be making appearances every chapter, just like Carrie Ann, but you WILL be in some chapters. All I need to know about you or your OC is your name, what you look like, and what your personality is like. THE FIRST PERSON TO RESPOND TO THIS GETS THE PART!! If no one responds…I'll have to make up another OC for the part. This is your chance to be in the story if you didn't get to sign up as a student! Or even if you or your OC did sign up as a student, you can have the opposite one be the assitant.**


	7. Ships and Clothes

A/N: And I didn't have to make up another character to be Carrie Ann's assistant! Yes! Thank you, DarlingOfAngelsDemonsAndSaints for volunteering yourself to be her assistant. Now, on with the chapter.

**Flightstorm: **Thank you for offering to let me use some of your characters as well! An Unknown Writer also volunteered some male characters, but if they don't reply soon with one I might just use either one of those you described to me. Again, thanks for the offer and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC, any of these students, or Nina. I only own Angel, Sandra, and Carrie Ann. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write this and credit goes to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 7

As soon as Carrie Ann was out of ear shot, Lissie mumbled to herself, "Well, that wasn't what I had bloody expected."

"I don't think it was what any of us expected…" Mary, who sat next to the blonde haired girl, whispered. "But it was kind of cool finally meeting her after hearing Angel talk about her so much."

Lissie shrugged as a girl with shoulder length brown hair entered the room. Her large eyes were a very dark brown. In her left arm, she cradled a stack of papers. She smiled at the group and said, "My name is Nina and I'm Carrie Ann's assistant. Carrie Ann asked me to give you all a list of the rules to memorize."

With this, she scurried around the group, passing papers as she went. She even gave one to Jack, Will, Elizabeth, and Angel. After that was done, she added, "Are there any questions? Anything she didn't explain or…something about the rules?"

"We can't get drunk?!" Jack exclaimed incredulously. "What kind o' bloody rule is that?!"

"These are only for the students to follow," Nina explained with a laugh at the man's reaction. "And since you would get drunk anyway, it doesn't apply."

"Rum is bloody horrible anyway," Lissie mumbled as she continued looking over the rules.

"Watch yer mouth, missy!" Jack ordered strictly.

"Be nice to the daughter I didn't even know I had!" Will said defensively.

With a chuckle at the two, Angel leaned over to Nina and said quietly, "I don' think there are any questions. Thank you fer bringing the rules down on paper for 'em to 'ave."

"That's what I'm here for," Nina replied and left the room unnoticed as some of the rum lovers of the group began protesting the no drinking rule.

"Oi!" Jack shouted, causing Mei, Sandra, and Emma all to cringe at the sound. "It says ya can't get drunk. It doesn't say ya can't drink!"

This settled most of the group down. Angel took her place in front of the group and held up her sheet of paper. "Alrigh' someone read the rules!"

"Why, can't you read?" Christine asked with a sneer.

"Of course I can bloody read!" The girl replied with a scowl. "The proper question should be if _you_ can read."

"Angel!" Will quickly stood and pushed her away from the front of the group to where he had been sitting. "Don't say another word, alright?"

The brown haired girl crossed her arms, but did not speak. Will returned to the front of the group, all eyes looking expectantly at him. "Um, as you all know, Angel isn't a teacher, so her word isn't law. Christine is it? I apologize on Angel's behalf for her remark to you."

The red head nodded grudgingly, but did not make eye contact.

"So, onto the rules," Will continued, eager to distract the group from what had just happened. "Anyone want to read first?"

There was a slight pause before Jibsi said, "The first rule says 'Don't go anywhere without a partner.' And the second one says 'Don't visit the other side of the island without supervision and permission.'"

"The third one says 'Do not harass the teachers or other students,'" Angela read, picking up where Jibsi had left off. "Rule number four is 'Do not get drunk.'"

"Wish I knew that last night…" Sandra moaned as she rubbed the side of her head.

"But ya _can_ drink," Jack added, comforting himself more than anyone else. A few of the girls chuckled at this.

"The fifth rule is 'No sneaking away from your group or this school,'" Mary read. "And the last one is 'Don't cause unnecessary trouble.'"

"Good," Will nodded approvingly as he set his paper aside. "Are there any questions?" When Emily raised her hand immediately, he motioned for her to continue.

"Um," she began with a fangirl, like smile spread across her face, "we've been here for a few days and I was wondering if there was any place we could wash our hair?"

"I don't think so," he replied. "Unless you were to take a dip in the ocean."

Several moans emitted from the girl from the twenty-first century who were used to having clean hair, but there were no more questions.

"Alright, well, as punishment for you three," Will motioned towards Mei, Sandra, and Emma, "you won't get to tour the Black Pearl this evening with the rest of the group."

Almost immediately, pleads of forgiveness and even a couple bribes erupted from Sandra and Emma, who, although they still had hangovers, were desperate to tour the Pearl. Mei, on the other hand, sat quietly in her corner so as to avoid conversation.

"Oi!" Jack shouted above the din. The two girls were silenced immediately. "I don't want these two ta be arguin' the whole bloody tour," he motioned to Angel and Christine. "They're stayin' 'ere ta keep ya company, savvy?"

Christine cast a cold glare at him, while Angel only glanced his way. Both knew the order came from a captain and that it was not to be questioned.

Will shrugged. "Alright, it's your ship, after all. But for now, you all are dismissed to cook your lunch. And, since it seems _I'm_ better in the kitchen than Elizabeth, I'll be supervising."

Emily, Angela, and Catalina either grinned or squealed with excitement, causing a few heads to turn in their direction. Now they would get to show off their magnificent cooking skills to Will!

-------

The cooking lesson turned out to be a flop. Since Christine was one of the girls in charge of the class, she gave Angel especially hard tasks just to aggravate her. Mary, who had nothing against the girl, tried to help her with some of the almost impossible chores she had been given. This unfair ordering eventually ended up with Christine trembling at the end of Angel's sword, which was quickly confiscated by Will.

Emily, Angela, and Catalina all tried their hand at wooing Will, but he seemed too preoccupied with other goings on that he did not seem to notice them much. But the persistent three did not give up. No, Emily continued trying throughout lunch, which was vegetarian again, when she managed to grab the seat beside him before Elizabeth could.

Just before lunch had been served, Angela had discovered Emily in the midst of the most horrible crime anybody could have possibly done: storing chocolate. Angela promised not to tell anybody about it…so long as they made chocolate chunk cookies with some of it. And that ended up being the dessert for lunch, making many chocolate lovers such as Mei, Sandra, Catalina, Jibsi, and Mary very happy.

Jack once again felt it was his duty to complain about the meal, so he did. Very loudly. This would have hurt Jibsi's feeling had she not known he did this sort of thing regularly. She thought the lunch they had yesterday was pretty good, so she requested another like it.

After lunch, Elizabeth gave the five girls who were being forced to stay behind a quick lecture about getting along with one another and not getting drunk. Emma, Sandra, and Mei, who were almost over their hangovers, promised to try to keep Angel and Christine from ripping each other apart. Satisfied that her duty was done, Elizabeth, Jack, and Will took the students out to the docks, pointing out various objects that would be of use later. The group quickly found themselves walking up the gangplank and up onto the deck.

"I'm assuming most of ya know at least somethin' 'bout ships," Jack began as Elizabeth and Will left him to teach the class. "Am I right?"

The group all gave him a different variation of the word "yes."

"Good! M' job's half done," he said before glancing around and pointing at something, but what, the students weren't quite sure. "That's the mainmast. 'Ave it broken off yer ship and ya might as well give up the fight."

"But when Will and Elizabeth and them were fighting Barbossa and his crew, their mainmast fell over and they didn't give up," Angela pointed out.

"Aye, but they're bloody stupid," he stated before leading them to another object of discussion. "This be the longboat. You can guess what it's for."

And so it went, Jack leading the group on a tour of his precious Black Pearl, pointing out objects and snapping at some not to touch anything. The tour seemed to pass by too quickly for most of them. But they had one more thing to be taught while they were on the Pearl.

"_You two_ are teaching us about clothes?" Lissie asked unbelievingly to Mr. Gibbs and Jack.

"Aye," Gibbs replied, "who better at teach ya 'bout pirate clothes than a pirate hisself?"

He had a point. The students shrugged and sat in a semi circle around the two men who leaned on the railing.

"Before we go on any _real_ voyage on the Pearl, ye'll need ta get a hat or a bandana," Jack stated as he waved aimlessly at various crew members who owned said items. "Keep the sun from gettin' to ya."

"Aye," Gibbs nodded in agreement. "'Specially since we got this many lasses. Don't want ya faintin' on high seas and fallin' overboard."

The girls of the group giggled at the thought. Some even imagined Jack or Will coming to save them after they had fallen overboard.

"What if we _do_ faint?" Catalina asked with a glance in Jack's direction.

"Pray ya don't fall overboard," was Jack's quick reply. "Especially if there's a storm. It'd be nigh impossible ta find ya in a storm." Then he added quickly, "An' don't expect me or dear William ta jump overboard if ya fall."

This was met with several frowns and some even groaned. So much for their fantasy.

"So, we need a bandana or a hat…" Mary mused to herself before piping up and asking, "What about those sashes everybody wears? Is there any purpose for those?"

"Aye, if ya need ta tie somethin', ye use a sash. Ya use it as a belt, or blindfold, or a substitute fer yer bandana if ye lost it," Gibbs replied holding up his slightly for the group to see. "Ye'll all need one of these as well."

"I've seen lots of pirates on your crew walking around with either some kind of piercing or something braided into their hair," Angela said, motioning over her shoulder. "Why is that?"

"Because contrary to popular belief, pirates don't actually bury their treasure," Jack stated. "Ya can't carry every bit o' treasure stored in yer ship, so ya keep the more valuable things and put them in yer 'air or in yer face," he lifted a strand of his hair for them to see. "But if yer plannin' on gettin' yer face or ears pierced with yer treasure, I'd advise ya ta make sure said treasure is small enough not ta get pulled out easily."

"Will we get to do something like that?" Jibsi asked excitedly.

"Maybe eventually, but not today," Jack replied.

"Do we get to sail anywhere on the Pearl?" Catalina asked, quickly changing subjects.

"Aye," Jack answered. The girls grinned at the thought of this, but Benjamin kept his frown to himself.

"When?!" Angela demanded anxiously.

Jack eyed her as Gibbs answered, "We be takin' a sail 'round the island tomorrow. That's why ya had this class taday."

"Where all will we go?" Emily asked. "Do we get to go to Tortuga, Port Royal, and the place the Kraken ate you?"

"Yes to the first, yes to the second, and no to the third," Jack answered immediately as he pushed himself off the railing and waved at the students to move out of his way. "Class is over fer today. Go on back ta the school with William and Elizabeth."

The students all thanked Gibbs and Jack for taking the time to teach them before getting up and heading back to the school. Along the way, they talked excitedly with each other and even Will and Elizabeth about the plans to sail around the island tomorrow. Their excited chatter continued when they got back to the school and were greeted by the five who had stayed behind. Those five were quickly informed of their "cruise" and their need for headwear and a sash. Angel promised to give them money for it the next morning before time to sail.

-------

It was nearly night as Sandra scurried out to the dormitories to get something of hers. The crickets were beginning to chirp and the night air was hot and sticky and made her long for air conditioner. When she entered the dorm, she noticed a quick change in temperature and humidity. Thankful for the indoors, she hurried back to her room, but stopped in the doorway. Was that somebody crying she heard?

Sandra slowly continued down the hall and stopped in front of another door. Yes, it was crying and it was coming from in there. She lightly tapped on the door and called, "Is everything ok in there?"

The sniffing stopped and the person answered with a question of their own. "Who is it?"

"It's Sandra."

There were footsteps and the door quickly opened to reveal a red-eyed Mary. She stepped aside and Sandra entered the room.

"What's wrong?" Sandra asked as she pushed a strand of her sandy blonde hair behind her ear.

With a sigh, Mary sat down on the bed carelessly. "I'm just homesick is all…"

Even though she did not know the girl much, Sandra sat down beside her and put an arm around her. She had always been caring. Even to people she did not know. "I am too, but it'll be alright. I keep thinking 'We'll probably only get to do this once, so why not enjoy it?' That's what helps me get past the homesickness."

"Yeah," Mary nodded absentmindedly and wiped a small tear away. She looked up and met Sandra's eyes. "Can you keep a secret?"

This was so random the other girl couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, of course."

"No, I mean really keep a secret. It's a big one and you're one of the only ones I trust around here so far."

Sandra wiped her smile off her face and nodded. "I can keep secrets."

"Ok…" Mary searched her eyes once more before continuing. "I'm a superhero."

"A what?" The other girl asked unbelievingly.

"A superhero! You know the super strong or super fast people that save the world from evil? I'm one of those."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I have aquatic powers. I can breath under water and control it too."

"Wow, you'll come in handy whenever we start sailing for real."

"Yeah, I know, but you _have_ to keep it a secret!"

"I will, I promise."

Just at that moment, Angela entered the room. "I've been looking for you two! Come on, Will's about to tell us about one of his adventures!"

Sandra and Mary exchanged secretive smiles and quickly followed Angela back to the main building.

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**A/N:** I'm sorry for not updating quicker, but the first time I wrote this, it turned out like crud, so hopefully this is better than crud. And RubyVulpix, remember you asked in your last review when Mary would reveal that she's a super? Well here it is! Anywho, please review!


	8. A Cruise Interrupted

A/N: Weee! Thanks for the reviews and support, everybody, and telling me when I'm messing up your character. I feel the love!

Disclaimer: Pirates, the students, and Nina don't belong to me. I only own Angel, Sandra, and Carrie Ann. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write my own and credit goes to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 8

"Jack, wait!" Mei cried, shedding her normally quiet demeanor. "There's something I must tell you!"

"Can't it wait?" Jack bellowed over the roar of the thunder. Rain pelted them as the crew of the Black Pearl scurried around to secure the ropes and sails. He struggled to keep the wheel from spinning out of control and throwing them off course.

"No, I have to tell you now!" She answered equally loud. "There might not be enough time later!"

Jack hesitated before turning his attention to her. She opened her mouth to tell him the words that were burning in her soul when a strong gust of wind jerked his attention back to the ship. He tugged the wheel to the left as Mr. Gibbs' voice could be heard bellowing orders to the crew. Mei stood there, unsure of what to do until he finally turned back to face her.

"Jack," she began, glancing down at her feet in uncertainty. "I-I love you!"

"Mei!" He cried excitedly, completely forgetting about the raging storm around them. "I- meow."

Her eyes widened in confusion as the outside world quickly began pulling her to consciousness.

Mei sat up in bed and looked around. Christine was sitting up in her bed writing in a book she had found only days earlier and Jibsi was kneeling in front of the window, tapping lightly on the glass. Mei turned down her covers and leaned out of the bed, trying to see what Jibsi was looking at.

"Hey, you're up!" Jibsi said with a grin as she scooted closer to the bunk she and Christine shared. "See him?"

Mei's mind raced to the possibility of Jack standing outside their window, but was disappointed to see a cat sitting on the windowsill. The cat meowed when he saw a new face appear at the window. His fur was mostly black, but had stripes and groups of grey and light, caramel brown.

"Let's let him in!" Jibsi suddenly stood and began fiddling with the window's lock.

"No!" Christine suddenly jumped out of her bed, dropping her book in the process. "Don't let the bloody thing in! You have no idea where it's been!"

"We might get in trouble…" Mei mumbled, scooting back onto her bed to avoid the fight.

"How old are you?" Jibsi suddenly asked.

"Eighteen, why?" Christine replied with her brows furrowed.

"I'm older than you so I say we let Snickers in!" She gleefully opened the window and the cat quickly entered and made himself at home by flopping down on Mei's bed.

"Don't blame me if that thing's diseased…" Christine scowled and picked up her book and began writing in it once again.

-------

Carrie Ann and Nina once again made another appearance that morning after breakfast to explain what would be expected of the students on their cruise today. Both stressed continuously not to let on to Norrington that they were learning to be pirates.

"To his knowledge, you are just going on a cruise today," Carrie Ann explained quickly, trying to get the group out of the school as soon as possible. "You are to observe what the crew does when the captain or first mate commands them."

"You won't have much time to sit around and gaze out at the sea," Nina added. "Think of this as a preview of what you will be doing next time you set sail on the Pearl."

The group nodded in impatience, eager to get on with the activity. When asked if they had any questions, no one spoke up so as to end this meeting as soon as possible. With a curt nod, Carrie Ann allowed Will and Elizabeth to lead to group to the Black Pearl where Jack and his crew were waiting. The nice stroll the two adults intended it to be turned into a fast paced walk in the student's attempt to get to the ship as fast as possible. Lissie and Angela actually ended up racing to see who could get there fastest.

Before long, the group who was still walking had arrived at the Pearl where the two runners waited, panting. Gibbs spotted them and quickly ordered the crew to let down the gangplank. With eager faces, or a face full of dread for Ben, they scampered onto the ship. Jack ordered them and Elizabeth to stand by the rail on the starboard side of the ship so they could observe and not get in the way. Sandra, Mei, and Catalina ended up going to the left side until they were called over to the correct side by the others in the group.

Jack hastily began shouting out orders from the helm and Gibbs went about the deck, making sure each task was completed properly. Men rushed back and forth, tying ropes and fixing the sails. Some of the group was in awe at how fearlessly the men climbed up the ropes to fix a stray line or climb out to the bow where they promptly disappeared out of sight.

Jack twisted the wheel around and the ship was soon making its way out of the port. Some in the group looked back to see the port and small city disappear around a large rock that jutted out from the sea only to appear once again. As soon as they were clear of the rocks, Jack allowed Mr. Cotton to take over the helm while he addressed the students.

"A'right, since I don't want arguin' or fightin' from you two," he said, addressing Christine and Angel, "you, red-headed girl, you'll stay on that end o' the ship," he motioned towards the far end. "Angel, you'll stay on this end, savvy?"

Angel nodded quickly, Christine nodded grudgingly.

"Good! Now that that's settled-" he quickly interrupted himself when he noticed Benjamin with his head bent over the rail. "You, boy, what ya doin' over there?"

"He's feeling seasick, captain," Angela quickly replied for the boy.

"Lad will have ta get used ta the ship," Jack said to no one but himself. He suddenly looked back to the group before him, signaling that he was once again addressing them. "'Ere's the rules for me ship: Don't touch _anythin_', don't go below deck without me or one o' me crew, and stay in me sight at all times, savvy?"

The group nodded their agreement. And Jack gave them a quick grin before rushing off to find Gibbs. As soon as he was out of earshot, Emma squealed with delight at the thought of being in Jack's sight during the cruise. Some of the other girls looked at her uncertainly before leaving to explore the deck.

Sandra made her way to Ben, who was still leaning over the rail. She gave him a sympathetic smile and patted his back. "I'd feel the same way if the waves were rougher."

He nodded slightly, still staring down at the water below. Sandra took the hint for privacy and left him alone. As she was leaving, she noticed several of the students closely observing what the crew did. She figured she should be doing the same thing, but Jack was on the ship and she could not concentrate. She was not the only one.

Emily was busy trailing Will around the ship, watching what he did and asking questions. Angela observed him from a distance with the occasional dreamy sigh and smile. Catalina was keeping herself very busy observing Will for a while before switching her attention to Jack. Emma was following Jack around and getting weird looks from him the whole time while Mei stood by the rails, watching the captain.

But it was not all peace and quiet on bored the ship. Even though the length of the Pearl separated them, Angel and Christine continued shouting insults at one another, causing Jack to yell angrily at both of them. After they had almost sailed half way around the island, Jack threatened to throw them both in the brig together. It quieted them down for a while.

"Cap'n!" Gibbs shouted from across the ship shortly after Jack almost put the girls in the brig.

"What?" Jack snapped. "If it has ta do with those two women, jus' shoot the red head."

"It's not th' lasses," Gibbs replied and pointed to the horizon. "Storm's comin'."

Jack and the students hurried to the port side of the Pearl and gazed out at the horizon. A large, dark cloud hovered over the ocean. Lightening flashed inside the cloud and thunder rolled across the sky. The Pearl's sails began filling with more air as the wind picked up.

"What should we do, cap'n?" Marty asked.

"Make berth one this side o' the island," Jack instructed just as the port came into view. Gibbs hollered out the order for the crew to hear and they quickly began scampering around, getting the ship ready.

"It's yer bloody fault!" Angel shouted at Christine from across the ship.

"For making a storm?!" Christine hollered back over the boom the thunder. "If anything bad happens, it's your fault and a storm is bad so it's your fault!"

"If you two don't shut yer mouths right now, I'll have ya both sleep out 'ere in the rain tonight!" Jack yelled at them, again causing them to be quiet for the moment.

Small drops of rain began pelting the Pearl just as they docked at one of the far docks. With quick instructions to protect the Pearl from the Royal Navy or whoever may come around, Jack, Will, and Elizabeth led the group into the town to find somewhere to stay for a few hours. At the first sign of a pub, Jack immediately abandoned the group for it. Emily followed to get rum and Emma and Mei went so as to be with Jack. Angel went for both and to make sure the girls did not get drunk again.

Will and Elizabeth found a restaurant and went inside to have a late lunch while the rest of the students quickly occupied themselves with the local coffee house. At first Sandra and Jibsi, the coffee lovers, were disappointed at the wide variety of flavors: black or with cream and sugar. But they quickly decided this coffee was better than none at all.

And so the students and three adults settled in for a long storm.

-------

Christine was idly sitting in a chair near a corner in the coffee house thinking of ways she could torture Angel without getting in trouble. Nothing short of shooting the other girl in the foot was coming to mind. No doubt she would get in trouble for doing that. She was about to give up when she felt a sharp jab in her side. She immediately jumped and a small squeal escaped her lips before she could turn to see Jibsi.

"What the bloody heck did you do that for?" Christine whispered angrily so the others would not hear her frustration and surprise.

"It's Snickers," Jibsi replied just as quiet. "I closed the window in our room before we left 'cause I thought we'd be back by now. I don't want him to starve!"

"You shouldn't have let the bloody fleabag in," Christine sneered and took a sip of her now cool coffee. She immediately made a face at it.

"What can I do?!" The brunette asked quietly.

"Go talk to that quiet girl that stays in our room. She seems to like the thing as much as you do."

"Mei. Her name's Mei. I already did, but she was the one who told me to come talk to you."

"You got her to talk?" Christine almost laughed.

"Yes, she talks to me," Jibsi replied with a bored look on her face. "Look, I'll go get someone else and take care of it, alright?"

Christine shrugged and the brunette found Sandra, her fellow coffee lover. After explaining her situation to her and receiving much more concern than with Christine, the two plus Mei told Angela, Lissie, and Mary to cover for them until they got back.

"You'll get wet and sick, you know that, right?" Christine called after them as they hurried out the front door.

As they scurried along in the rain, they decided it would be quicker to get some horses. Luckily, they had just stumbled upon a barn full of them.

"It's our first act of piracy!" Jibsi whispered excitedly as the entered the barn and picked out their horses. "We're commandeering horses!"

The act was fairly easy aside from the animals being uncooperative. Their owner was not around and the stable hands had gone inside for the duration of the storm. After struggling to get the saddles and reins on the animals, they decided it would be quicker to jog back to the school after all. They had been running through the forest that covered the middle of the island for a while before Sandra brought up an interesting fact.

"We're lost," she stated when they took a break from jogging for a while.

Jibsi panted and looked around, the rain still splattering the leaves overhead and drenching the girls beneath. Thunder echoed loudly overhead as she finally nodded. "I think you're right. I'm sorry for dragging you two- Where's Mei?"

"Here!" Came a faint cry ahead of them. The two hurried through the forest and almost bumped into the girl. With a wide grin, she pointed across the backyard of the school.

-------

"Since the storm hasn't let up yet," Elizabeth said with an exasperated look on her face, "we'll have to stay in this inn."

"Why can't we sail on through the storm?" Angela asked, trying to buy time for Jibsi, Sandra, and Mei to get back.

"I would normally," Jack answered with a quick glance out the window. "We don' need ya ta get hurt out there. Carrie Ann wouldn' be pleased…"

"No, I expect not," Will nodded in agreement. "And I'm the responsible one, so she would definitely-"

"What?!" Jack turned to his friend, just hearing was the man said. "Respons'ble one?!"

The group began snickering as Will tried to backtrack and restate what he had said. It was at that moment that Mei, Jibsi, and Sandra slipped in, dripping wet and unnoticed. They took a place at the back of the group just as Will finally made amends for what he said, making Jack the responsible one.

"Me? Respons'ble?" Jack laughed it off as if it had been what the other man had said to begin with.

"Anyway," Elizabeth said loudly enough to attract the attention back to her. "We'll stay in this inn for the night. Pair up because only two people can stay in a room." She almost turned her back on the students just as another thought struck her. "And, no, no one gets to sleep with Jack or Will."

Some of the girls started pouting about the rule, but they quickly recovered and chose roommates for the night.

-------

It ended up that Christine and Angel had neighboring rooms. Since Christine had been waiting for a moment like this, she tried to be as loud as possible so as to deprive the other girl from sleep. The girls in the surrounding rooms had to put up with the noise for almost a half hour before Elizabeth came and relocated Christine to another room. By that time, though, everybody was getting sick and tired of their bickering.

The storm lasted late into the night. It was only in the early hours of the morning that it finally ended with a pitiful drizzle of rain. The students woke up at the normal time and ate a fairly normal breakfast which consisted of eggs, bread, and some kind of meat. The girls from the twenty-first century were thrilled with this meal since they had only been eating "pirate food," as Angel had put it the first day they were there. And "pirate food" was right. Nobody other than pirates would eat like that.

After they ate, they headed out to the Pearl. The morning air was somewhat cooler than normal, but provided a comfortable temperature for the working crew. As for the students, they stood near one another, trying to stay warm since they were not moving around and producing their own body heat. In the background, they listened to Angel and Christine arguing yet again.

"Is that all they do?!" Emily cried out in frustration.

"Not so we can 'ear it," Jack muttered as he swiftly walked by them. Next time he passed, he had Angel by the arm, muttering something close to an apology to her before grabbing Christine. This time he didn't threaten to put them in the brig; he did it.

Suddenly, the crew and group of students realized how quiet it was without listening to two screaming females. It became almost peaceful after that. That is, until one of the girls below deck let out an ear splitting scream.

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A/N: I don't do cliffhangers often, but this time I did. Don't get mad, 'cause I'll try to update soon…ish. Oh, I've got a new story coming out soon. It's a Mary-Sue basher, so if you like those stories, keep an eye out for it. Thanks! Oh, one more thing. I own Snickers. He's real and he's my cat.


	9. Why Did You Become A Pirate?

A/N: Ah, sorry! Cliffhangers shouldn't be left too long on their own…they'll drive a body mad.

Disclaimer: I still don't own POTC, Nina, or the students. I do, however, own Angel, Sandra, Carrie Ann, and Snickers. Good little Snickers!

**Flightstorm and RubyVulpix: **I appreciate you sending in some characters for me to use and I think I might have found a place to put them. Would you mind if I had them in Tortuga? After they meet the students, though, I might take them back to the school, if that's ok with you. I have yet to decide for sure on that, though. Let me know in your reviews. 

Chapter 9

"Bloody women!" Jack cried as he charged for the hatch. "Should've never brought 'em on board."

Jack, along with all of the students and some of the crew, hurried down the stairs until they reached the cells. The two girls were in completely different cells which left the group confused as to why one of them would scream as she did.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked impatiently as some of the crew members sulkily left the room. They had hoped it was a fight!

"She's got my book!" Christine cried angrily, reaching her arm through the bars, across the gap, trying to reach the other girl.

"S'good, I might add," Angel replied calmly as she turned a page. "'Cept where she calls me Octogirl and Devil 'cause I remind 'er of Davy Jones."

Jack's face darkened at the mention of the man. He reached through the bars of Angel's cell, jerked the book from her hands and thrust it back at Christine. "You know nothin' of Davy Jones."

He quickly and silently left the group with Gibbs, who was beginning to look anxious. "A'right, boy," he said, addressing Ben, "you stay down 'ere an' make sure these two don' kill each other, understand?"

"But I'm already feeling seasick!" Ben exclaimed, clutching his stomach with one hand. "I think I'm about to-"

Before he could finish the sentence, he rushed past the group towards the stairs, trying to make it up them before vomited his breakfast.

"I can watch them for a while," Mary piped up. "They won't be arguing with me around."

Gibbs seemed hesitant for a woman to be the guard, but Angela quickly volunteered to help. With a sigh, he nodded and led the remaining girls back up on deck where he left them so he could explain the situation to Jack.

"I'm sick of those two arguing already!" Emma shouted in frustration.

"We all are…" Lissie mumbled and glanced to her side to see Will approaching them.

"Good morning, everyone," Will greeted cheerily, trying to get their minds onto something else. For Emily and Catalina, it was working especially well. "I'm glad to see all- well, most of you are already accustomed to how a ship moves. Today I'm going to teach you more on sword fighting, but this time you'll have to adjust your movements to the rocking of the ship, alright? It will be especially important to know how to swordfight on a moving ship."

"Will we be fighting up on the mast like Jack and Davy Jones?" Jibsi asked excitedly.

"Well, you might," Will answered with a chuckle. "I don't think even Jack intended on doing something like that, though. But is everybody ready?"

They nodded, eager to learn how to swordfight on the ship like real pirates do. Benjamin, on the other hand, stayed close to the side of the ship just in case another round of seasickness hit.

During this lesson, they found it was much harder to stand due to the wet deck and the ship rocking back and forth. The lack of balance also allowed their opponents to take cheap shots at their legs or arms. Some of the girls whined about it being unfair, but Will said they should try pointing that out to a pirate that is wanting to kill them. Needless to say, he made his point. After that, everybody began taking the cheap shots when their opponents slid.

When the lesson ended, the group was worn out, hungry, and very bruised from cheating during their lesson. Will made it a point, however, to mention that he would not allow cheating during the next lessons so they would actually know how to swordfight properly.

"Can we get something to _eat_?" Emma whined to their instructor as soon as he was done speaking. "We're all _starving_!"

"Well, we're almost back to the port…" he began and looked over his shoulder.

"Course we can get somethin' ta eat!" Jack said loudly as he strolled up to the now sitting group. "You, quiet one," he pointed vaguely at Mei, "you say you can cook? Go make some lunch."

With a quick nod, she stood and scurried below deck. Jack, almost as an afterthought, added hastily, "An' it better be good!"

"I'll go see if I can help," Sandra quietly informed Catalina as she stood and followed Mei down through the hatch.

"Mr. Gibbs, go release our prisoners below deck and inform them that if I 'ear one argument, they'll be skippin' lunch, savvy?" Jack ordered as he began walking away from the group.

"Aye, Cap'n," Gibbs responded and headed down to the cells with a weary sigh.

-------

The Black Pearl made berth shortly before lunch was served, so the students stayed on board to taste whatever it was that Mei had cooked up for them. And they did not regret it.

The lunch turned out to be the best one yet. Since there had been no argument in the kitchen over what to cook, Mei had complete say-so. She cooked a roast pork, fresh rolls, a mixture of grilled vegetables, and, for dessert, steamed apples. Sandra ended up being in the way more than anything so when she saw that the other girl had everything under control, she went to the galley and waited for lunch with the rest of the crew and students.

Every one was impressed with how well she could cook and continually gave her compliments throughout the meal. She managed to smile at the good response, but never said anything. She quietly went about eating her meal and serving the dessert when every one was ready.

Sandra, feeling a bit guilty for leaving Mei all alone to cook, helped her with clearing the tables and washing the dishes. After they were done, the group reluctantly, but gladly in Benjamin's case, left the Pearl and began walking back to the school with Will and Elizabeth. Jack had informed them that he would be there later in the day.

"Hey, Sandra, are you ok?" Angela asked as she hurried up to the wobbling girl. "You haven't been in more rum, have you?"

"What? No, I haven't had enough rum to make me drunk again," Sandra replied with a shudder, remembering the horrible hangover she had gotten. "I have a problem with balancing. Ever since I hit my head really hard on my dresser, I've had issues with balancing. It's not constant, though. Random things bring it on. Like this one time when I ate a muffin I couldn't balance for a while."

Angela giggled a little, but stopped suddenly when the other girl almost fell on her. Some of the other girls of the group laughed a little at them. Angela grabbed onto Sandra's arm and helped her walk along steadily. "You need to see a doctor about this."

"I know. I was going to, but I ended up here instead," Sandra said, laughing quietly at her own uneasy steps. "Thanks for helping me walk. This is the worst it's ever gotten, just so you know."

Angela nodded to herself as she continued helping the other girl up the gravel drive that led to the school. She noticed Carrie Ann was waiting impatiently at the front door, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. Sandra saw that as well and quickly jerked her arm back and tried to walk steadily on her own so the woman would not think she was drunk.

"Where have you been?" Carrie Ann asked. Her voice was calm, but her face showed frustration. "You should have been back last night."

"We got caught in a storm," Will explained equally calmly. "Jack thought it best to stay on the other side of the island with this many newcomers to the ship. He didn't want anyone to get hurt."

The woman seemed to buy the explanation and her face began to soften. That is until she saw Sandra stumble into Mary. "Has she gotten drunk?"

Carrie Ann charged forward through the group as Will and Elizabeth began trying to explain that she had not had any rum. The woman grabbed Sandra's jaw and forced her to look her in the eye. "You don't look drunk…"

Angel quickly stepped up and swatted Carrie Ann's hand away from Sandra before stepping in between the two. "She hasn't got 'er land legs back yet. But you wouldn't know 'ow that is, would you?"

"That's right!" Elizabeth quickly joined in. "She's still a little dizzy from the ride."

For the first time, Carrie Ann's face showed something other than complete control and authority. She hastily blinked several times, turned, and hurried back to the school. Just before she went in, she turned back to them and said stiffly, "I want you all to find a pirate and find out why he became what he is today. This assignment is due tomorrow at this time. Pair up if you wish."

Then she quickly turned and disappeared inside. Will muttered something to Elizabeth as he led her and the students inside.

"You know," Christine said to Angel slowly, almost painfully, "even though I hate you…" she visibly cringed as she said, "you did a…good job defending Sandra and taking care of stupid Carrie Ann."

"How sincere…" Angel replied with crossed arms and a dull expression. With an exasperated sigh, she added, "And…since ya said somethin' somewhat nice ta me…your hair…doesn't look as fuzzy as it norm'ly does."

"You little-" Christine began shouting, but Will quickly separated them and sent them to different sides of the room with another girl to assure that they stayed quiet.

"Now you all heard what Carrie Ann said and you can get started on it whenever you like," Will stated loudly so everybody would hear him. "But I'd advise you to get started today while you have time."

He and Elizabeth left the group to themselves. The students who wanted a head started began pairing up almost immediately and then there were others who went into the den area to catch up on some sleep.

"You know," Angel said in a disinterested voice, "I _am_ technic'ly a pirate. I've got the 'P' and everythin'."

"You're so vain," Christine hollered at her. Angel shot her a quick glare.

Mary and Emily were the first to reach Angel and to complete their assignment easily. The three sat down on the hard floor and Mary asked, "So how'd you become a pirate?"

"I was kidnapped," Angel stated simply and at their confused looks continued. "My father's a wealthy merchant sailor an' pirates must've 'eard of 'im. So they kidnapped someone from 'is family and it 'appened to be me, but only because I couldn't run away fast enough. They wanted money from 'im and he paid 'em, but I s'pose I reminded the cap'n of 'is daughter 'cause I saw a picture of 'er once an' she looks a lot like me. I spent a long time with 'em, two years my brother James said. Learned 'ow to talk like a pirate, 'ow to fight like a pirate, and 'ow to starve like a slave…I was forced in ta piracy, basically," she concluded, then added for no real reason, "Then Jack accident'ly rescued me."

"So how'd you get the 'P'?" Emily asked after a moment's pause. "Did Beckett get you too?"

"Nah, never run into Beckett, thankfully," she shook her head. "I wanted ta become an official pirate with the mark an' all so I branded myself. Hurt somethin' terrible an' I 'ad ta take the bloody thing off my arm immediately," she rolled up her right sleeve and turned up her wrist. A faint, yet discernable 'P' was visible. "I'll 'ave ta do it all over again, but with someone else holdin' it…an' me." She chuckled to herself.

"Wow, thanks so much for sharing," Mary said excitedly. "Now we have our report thing done!"

The three turned to see the entrance hall was empty except for the few that had gone into another room to rest were now close to the three so as to hear the story for themselves.

-------

"So, Mr. Barth, why did you turn to piracy?" Jibsi asked from across the table in the pub where she, Lissie, and one other pair which consisted of Mei and Angela had gone in search for pirates.

"T'was a bad year," he began over the noise of the pub. "Me wife an' th' kids weren't doin' good, so's I went ta get a job as a merchant trader. Seemed ta me tha's where all th' money was. I worked as a merchant trader fer a while and then pirates attacked our ship and cleaned us out. I saw 'ow much money they 'ad made jus' from us. T'was more than I'd ever made. Then they gave us an option: turn pirate and serve on their crew or die. I chose ta serve on their ship 'cause of the money it would give me wife an' kids an' 'cause I didn't want ta die. Been th' bes' choice I made, as far as I'm concerned."

"Do you ever get to visit your family?" Jibsi asked.

"Nah, th' Cap'n doesn't make social calls for regular sailors," he said somewhat bitterly. "But I've 'eard me wife an' kids are doin' fine.

Lissie, who was rather bored with the project since she already knew a lot about pirates, gave him a quick smile and Jibsi thanked him properly. On the other side of the pub, Mei and Angela were getting yet another story in answer to their question.

"I've never been 'appy with all th' rules an' prices the bloody king an' queen makes fer everythin'," he grumbled to them. Mei slid back in her chair and lowered her head, trying to become inconspicuous. "When I became twenty-three, I left me town and went ta Tortuga where I joined a crew an' 'ave been a pirate ever since."

Angela glanced at Mei who was trying her best to communicate the idea that they should go ahead and leave him and this pub. "Uh…is that it?"

"What are ye tryin' ta do? Pry into me life?" He growled at them. Angela still had questions she wanted to ask, but she quickly shook her head and led Mei out of the pub.

Emma and Sandra had paired up because of their obsession for Jack, so they stalked the Black Pearl until evening when he finally decided to head back up to the school. That was when they attacked with their questions.

"Jack, we have an assignment from Carrie Ann," Sandra explained innocently, causing Emma to roll her eyes at her. "It's to find out how a pirate became what he is today, so can you tell us why you became a pirate?"

"It was my idea to ask you," Emma added quickly. Sandra jabbed her elbow into Emma's ribs.

Jack smirked at the two, almost causing them to faint, but they managed to remain upright. "Course I can. Started off as a merchant sailor for Beckett doin' odd jobs an' deliverin' things here an' there. Then 'e wanted me ta take some slaves from Africa to the Americas which wouldn' 'ave been too bad if they 'adn't been chained an' starved worse than animals. I started off with 'em, but me conscience got ta botherin' me an' I took 'em back ta Africa an' set 'em free. Beckett found out an' sank me ship an' branded me as a pirate an' would've hung me if I 'adn't escaped first. So once yer branded as a pirate, ya might as well make a career out o' it an' tha's what I did. I found Davy Jones an' we struck ourselves a deal to raise me ship from the depths. I rechristened 'er The Black Pearl an' started me life o' piracy."

Sandra and Emma thought they knew everything there was to know about this man, but this part of his life they had not known up until this point. They quickly began thanking him gratefully for sharing and offered to buy him rum at the bar later.

"Aye, ya can buy me rum!" Jack said with a laugh as he opened the door to the school. They smiled excitedly and followed him inside.

-------

"That stupid, bloody varmint is making me sneeze!" Christine shouted to Jibsi, who was in the bunk above with Snickers.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Jibsi retorted. "I can't put him back outside now. He likes me!"

Snickers let out a small meow which rolled with his purrs.

"Maybe you could ask Sandra to keep him?" Mei suggested quietly from her bed across the room.

"Fine, if it will make our highness happy," Jibsi replied sarcastically, referring to Christine who snorted in response. She hopped down from her bunk and picked up the cat and hurried down the hall. After glancing over her shoulder towards Angel's room, she knocked quietly on Sandra's room's door. It was Lissie who opened it. "Would you keep our cat in here?"

"No, no, I can't!" Lissie exclaimed quickly and covered her nose. "I'm allergic."

With a sigh, Jibsi thanked her and headed down the hall to Benjamin's room, which he stayed in by himself. She knocked on his door and after a second he opened it.

"Are you allergic to cats?" She asked as she held up Snickers. The boy shook his head. "Then could you keep him in here for a few days?"

"Uh…I guess," Ben replied with a shrug and took the cat that was offered to him.

"Thanks!" Jibsi said happily and hurried back to her room.

Benjamin turned back to his room and set the cat on his bed. Snickers looked up at him, expecting to be rubbed. Ben shut his door and scratched the cat on his head. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Snickers only rubbed lazily on the boy's hand and purred contentedly.

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A/N: There we are. Again, I'm sorry for taking that long to update. I had a minor writer's block for the first page or so. Anyway, here it is! Hope you liked it now please review!


	10. Tortuga, Here We Come!

A/N: Um…yeah…no author's note this time.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Pirates, Nina, or these students. I only own Angel, Sandra, Snickers, and Carrie Ann. That's it!

Chapter 10

The next morning after breakfast, the students that had not completed their assignment given to them by Carrie Ann the previous day headed out to the town to finish it. They soon realized that it would have been better to do it the day before because now there was a lack of pirates in the pubs and around the docks. While they were out searching for their projects, the students who had cleverly finished theirs practiced their sword fighting with Will in the backyard of the school. Even though they had not been there for a week quite yet, their muscles did not ache nearly as bad after each training session with Will and they each felt that they were getting better. At least most of them felt that way. It was shortly after this training session that Lissie brought up the popular subject of Carrie Ann.

"What was with the bloody headmaster yesterday?" She asked as they all relaxed their weary muscles in the den area.

"She…" Angel began from her seat on the couch, pausing briefly to consider her words, "she…can't sail on a ship."

"What's she going to do when we actually get away from here?" Jibsi inquired. "Like when we go to Tortuga and all those places?"

"Don't know," Angel sighed. "She'll prob'ly stay 'ere with Norrington. She's fond of 'im, you know."

"Eeewwww!" Emma cried and visibly cringed. "That's disgusting!"

"Pretty much," Lissie nodded in agreement.

"Am I really that disgusting?" Came a sarcastic voice from the doorway. All eyes turned to see Norrington leaning against the doorframe. "What's this about going to Tortuga? Women learning how to be proper ladies shouldn't visit such places."

"And Benjamin!" Jibsi quickly added and pointed to the young boy. "He's learning to be a gentleman."

"The question still remains as to why you're going to Tortuga," he said calmly and looked around the room. "Angel? Do you have an explanation?"

Her hazel eyes darted around the room quickly as she tried to come up with a logical lie. She opened her mouth to speak, but just as she did Catalina hollered from the entrance hall, "We're back and we completed our pirate report thing! Now where are you guys?"

Norrington's eyes shot back over his shoulder then back to the group before him. "Pirates! I knew it! Why else would Sparrow be here?"

"He came-" Angel began, but the man rushed out of the room and up the stairs. She jumped up from her couch and stood in the doorway and listened. Nobody moved.

"Took us long enough to-" Emily started, but Angel cut her off with a stern look. The tall girl stopped and looked into the room then turned and shrugged to Catalina.

Suddenly, Norrington rushed back down the stairs with Nina following him close behind, pleading with him not to go. Carrie Ann stood at the top of the stairs, shouting ever conceivable thing that came to mind. Neither stopped the man as he threw open the door then slammed it shut behind him.

"Someone find Captain Sparrow!" Carrie Ann screamed from her position atop the stairs. The group, who were frozen in place moments ago, found new life and rushed about the school in search of the captain. Some of them scurried down to the docks and the pub in hopes of finding him there. All the while, Catalina sat in a chair, upset that she let out the secret and dreading the punishment that was sure to come.

Finally, after half an hour of searching, Jack was found below deck on his own ship and told of how Norrington found out the school's secret and was on his way to tell someone in a higher position. Then Jack, in no hurry, pulled out of the port and began sailing after Norrington.

Carrie Ann, who was in too much of a panic to punish whoever let the secret slip, put Nina in charge of the students and hurried down to the docks to wait for Jack and his crew to return. Nina, who was not near as strict as Carrie Ann, decided to lighten the mood.

"So who wants to play a game?" She asked excitedly. "Or maybe sing a song?"

"What game and song do you have in mind?" Lissie asked almost warily.

"Oh!" Angela jumped up from her seat. "Lets play Twister!"

"Wait!" Christine interjected. "What's Twister?"

The girls from the twenty-first century grinned at one another as if sharing a secret.

"We'll show you," Sandra said with a grin.

After getting a table cloth from the cooks and dying rows of different colored circles on it, Emma stood to the side and called out randomly which circle to put their hands or feet on. At first, the girls' hands and feet got stained from the still wet dye, but no one minded.

As soon as the first game was over with Angela as the victor, the group from the seventeenth century joined in on the fun. Their hands and feet got quite stained as well, but, once again, no one cared. They were all having fun laughing, falling, and sliding on their new game with new friends. Even Christine and Angel managed to put off their differences for the duration of the game!

"Well, look who won!" Angela, who had been the caller that time, exclaimed.

Mei grinned shyly as she was congratulated by the rest of them. "Thanks."

-------

With Nina in charge, the group soon forgot most of their troubles. They were able to skip their cooking class and even their sword fighting class since Will was on board the Black Pearl. It was soon decided that if they ever had the choice over who would run the school, they would choose Nina over Carrie Ann any day. Needless to say, that made Nina very happy.

The day was spent resting in the school or hanging around town. It was a nice break from the packed schedule they had been given since day one. Many of them got to know one another better than they had. Mei even broke out of her shell and said a few sentences throughout the day.

The Black Pearl arrived back to town in the late afternoon. The students were eating their supper when, much to their delight, Jack and Will appeared in their crude dining room. Both men seemed exhausted, so, even though they wanted to speak to them desperately, the fangirls left them alone for once. But, even though they were tired, Jack gave a quick explanation to every one that Norrington was in one of the cells in the Black Pearl and would stay there until further notice.

Carrie Ann almost passed out from relief.

-------

"You should know how ta get up by now!" Angel bellowed in the halls the next morning. "Come on, everybody! You'll be happy ta know that we're headin' for Tortuga after lunch today!"

Feet hit the floor faster than she could say another word. From out in the hall, she could hear girls squealing excitedly as they got dressed and she even thought she heard some one open a window and tell "Snickers" to go outside. With a shrug to herself, she turned and began walking down the hall.

-------

"I'm so excited to be back on the Pearl again!" Jibsi squealed happily as the group once again stepped onto the deck of the famous ship.

"We all know that, missy," Jack said somewhat impatiently, glancing over the group's heads. "Yer head-master…oh what's-her-face isn't comin' is she?"

"She can't sail on a ship, remember?" Angel reminded.

"Ah!" Jack grinned widely, but the smile soon disappeared when he saw Nina on board his ship. "Is she…?"

"She's cool!" Angela answered, defending their newfound friend. "She's nothing like Carrie Ann."

"And I won't be in the way," Nina added, trying not to act like fangirl around Jack.

Jack seemed hesitant about her coming, but quickly went on, "You remember th' rules, right? No touching anything, don't go below deck without someone, always stay in me sight?"

The group nodded eagerly.

"That's not what yer s'posed ta do when I ask ya a question an' th' answer's yes," Jack corrected. "Ya say 'Aye, Cap'n.' An' ya _always_ refer to me as _Captain_ Jack Sparrow. 'Specially on me ship, savvy?"

"Aye, Captain!" They chorused loudly.

"Good!" Jack grinned. "Now, yer to get th' ship out o' th' port. If ye remember th' names of all the parts and ya watched me men last time, you should 'ave no problems. Jus' _listen _to me orders."

"What about the sails and stuff?" Mary asked. "Do we have to climb up there?"

"Not this time since ya don't know 'ow," he answered, then added, "but you'll be learnin' 'ow to climb ropes while we're out on the ocean."

The girls looked to one another hesitantly, but did not have time to worry before Jack issued the first command. They quickly scrambled around, trying to perform the duties quickly enough to keep up with how fast he was giving new ones. Poor Benjamin took the duties that he could, but ended up standing near the side of the ship most of the time while the girls attempted to do what they were told.

Many men from the crew trailed the girls, checking what was done to make sure everything was done properly. Gibbs was in a state of almost panic over all that was happening and kept checking with Jack to make sure he was not out of his mind. But ever so slowly, the Pearl drifted out of the port in one piece and with out a single hole. As soon as that was announced, the girls cheered joyously and flopped down on deck for a rest. Benjamin stayed by the side of the ship with his head hung over the edge.

"I've heard dried ginger is good for seasickness," Sandra said as she looked over to Benjamin with pity.

"Lets go find some!" Emma said excitedly, jumping at the chance to explore the Pearl.

"And we won't be breaking a rule because the three of us are going," Catalina added just as excitedly as Emma.

The three glanced around and quickly stood and hurried to the hatch. They knew a few of the crew members were watching, but they did not know the rules Jack had laid down for them. Besides, they would only be there for a minute or two.

They scurried down the stairs, Sandra in the lead, and looked around. The crew's quarters were on that level, so they hurried down another set of stairs.

"Get a lantern!" Sandra ordered to Catalina, who was in the back of the line. Emma huddled up next to the other girl as the two waited for Catalina to return. "It's really wet down here."

"Yeah," Emma agreed as Catalina reappeared with a lit lantern. "Ok! Lets go find that ginger!"

Now, with Catalina in the lead, they made their way through a jungle of cages, wood, cloth, and even animals. There was no sign of the kitchen, or galley, rather. They turned around and began to march back to the stairs when they heard a loud screech. Catalina screamed, jumped, and almost dropped the lantern, but clutched it to her, burning her hand in the process. The other two girls, after screaming, huddled next to one another and peered around.

"What was _that_?" Emma asked in a shaky voice. Catalina lifted the lantern high and swung it around to the sides.

"Hey, is that…" Sandra started and took the lantern. She took a few steps forward, holding the light in front of her. "Jack!"

"Jack?" Catalina questioned.

"The monkey, remember?" Sandra bent down so that she was at eye level with the animal and cooed, "Hey, little guy. They locked you up, huh?"

The monkey peered up innocently through the bars of the cage and fidgeted with his tail.

"Don't get too attached," Catalina said. "We still have to find the ginger."

"Yeah," Sandra stood back up and began leading the way. "Come on, Emma."

Emma quickly glanced at the two and waited until they were out of sight before hurrying up to the monkey's cage. "You can't possibly cause too much trouble."

She quickly fiddled with the lock and opened the door. The monkey screeched again and leapt from the cage and onto her head before jumping into the mess behind her. It was only then she realized she had made a mistake. With a quick glance to either side, she rushed after her friends.

-------

"A'right, go on up!" Jack instructed Mei. The girl looked up the rope ladder, pulled back her black hair and began to climb. "Don't get yer feet tangled!"

The rest of the group watched as Mei climbed up the rope ladder that led to the top of the mast. Even though Jack and the crew were supposed to be instructing her on how to climb, she was already an expert and was able to climb to the top of the mast where another crew member waited before coming back down. When her feet hit the deck, a round of applause went up from the other girls and Mei grinned sheepishly at them.

"Very good," Jack stated simply before motioning for Christine to attempt to climb the ladder. Mei beamed at him as she took her place with the rest of the group. "You saw me an' Mei climb th' ropes, so jus' do what we did an' you'll be fine."

Christine grudgingly stepped up onto the railing and hesitantly grabbed the rope and began her ascent. She was about half way up when a large wave rocked the ship. Christine clutched the rope tightly and shut her eyes.

"I'm coming back down!" She shouted to any one who was near enough to hear.

"What's the matter? You scared?" Angel shouted up to her with a smirk.

"What's th' problem?" Jack hollered up to her, ignoring the other girl's comment.

When no reply came, Will shouted even louder, "What's the problem?"

"I can't stand it up here! I feel like I'm going to fall!" She answered as she began to climb down.

"If ya can't stand it now, what are you goin' to do if I need ya up there durin' a storm?" Jack shouted.

Christine hesitated and looked up. With a quick breath, she continued her ascent once again, determined to complete the challenge. As soon as she was at the top, she hurried back down before another big wave could come along and rock the ship. More cheers went up for her and some girls patted her on the back, telling her that it was alright now. Angel was not among them.

"A'right, next," Jack said to the group and Angela stepped forward eagerly. "Go on up, then."

Angela quickly got up on the rail, grabbed the ropes, and started climbing. She was making good progress and was nearing the halfway point when a loud screech startled her. She let out a scream as something landed on her head. In a desperate attempt to get it off, she let go of the ropes so she could swat it away, but fell into the ocean.

"Woman overboard!" Gibbs shouted and the crew scurried around to get one of the longboats into the ocean. The group from the school gathered around the side of the ship, shouting words of encouragement to their friend.

"Let down the anchors so we don't lose 'em!" Jack ordered just as the longboat splashed into the ocean. Other men from the crew rushed to the front of the ship to carry out the order.

The girls and Benjamin watched as the crew in the ship finally reached Angela, who was easily keeping afloat. The men pulled her up into the boat and began rowing back to the Black Pearl, which had come to a complete stop.

The girls cheered when Angela finally reached the deck. She was wet, but smiling and even laughing a little.

"Are you alright?" Several girls asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She replied as she wiped some of her wet hair out of her face.

Upon hearing this, Jack ordered for the crew to pull the anchors back up so they could continue their voyage to Tortuga. Soon, they were back at the speed they had been going before they had stopped.

"A'right, where is it?" Jack asked angrily as he peered around people and up the mast.

"Where's what?" Angel asked, following his gaze as he looked around.

"Th' bloody monkey!" He explained, not stopping his search. "Mr. Gibbs, gather th' crew an' go find th' monkey."

"Aye, Cap'n," Gibbs quickly turned and began rounding up the crew.

"Who let it out?" Jack quickly turned back to the students. When no one answered, he continued, "Th' thing was in a cage. A _locked_ cage. It couldn't 'ave jus' gotten out!" Again, no one said a word.

"Jack, we'll find it," Will said calmly. "Calm down."

Ignoring what the other man had to say, Jack turned his attention back to the group. "Angel, who let it go?"

Angel jerked her gaze from the crewmen searching for the monkey to the man before her. "Um, I…" she looked to the girls on either side of her. "I only know three girls went below deck ta search for somethin' ta keep Ben from being seasick."

"It's working too," Benjamin added quickly, hoping to defend the girls who helped him. "I haven't thrown up since."

Jack made a disgusted face at the statement before asking Angel, "Who were they? An' don't say ya don't know 'cause I know you know all their names. And 'ave even given the redhead a few more…"

With a sigh she mumbled, "It was Sandra, Emma, and Catalina."

"I wouldn't have told…" Christine said loudly enough for the girl to hear.

"Well 'e wasn't bloody askin' you!" Angel shouted.

"A'right, a'right!" Jack shouted and the two stopped their bickering. "Sandra, Emma, an' Catalina, for releasin' th' monkey you'll scrub th' decks an' not 'ave a hammock 'til we get to Tortuga, savvy?"

"Aye, Captain," they muttered, upset that Jack of all people had punished them.

"Good," he stated. "Th' climbin' lesson will be postponed 'til we get th' monkey back in a cage."

He turned to leave, but Angel quickly asked, "If they catch th' monkey, can they keep their hammocks an' not have ta scrub th' decks?"

Jack turned and paused to consider the question. Finally, he said, "Aye, if they get the monkey back in it's cage, they escape punishment."

He turned and left, leaving the group by themselves. As the girls who were not in trouble eased away, Emma grabbed onto Angel's arm so she could not leave.

"Thank you so much for getting us out of trouble," Emma said with a grateful smile.

"Yer not out of it yet," Angel reminded.

"How are we supposed to catch the monkey?" Catalina asked hurriedly. "The crew isn't going to help us are they? Captain Jack is going to stop them from hunting, right?"

"Aye," Angel nodded, thinking on the question for a moment. "I'd advise ya ta try food. Th' monkey loves bread, or so _Captain_ Jack says…"

She walked off, leaving the three to figure out how to use food in their hunt for Jack the monkey.

-------

Twenty minutes later, Sandra had told the crew to keep away from their trap so as not to scare the monkey off. Emma had gotten the cage and Catalina had gotten the bread, even though it seemed pretty stale. They had placed the bread in the cage with door open and crouched behind a few barrels to wait.

"It's not going to work…" Emma frowned as they watched the monkey walk around the outside of the cage. "It knows it's about to be caught."

"It's an animal, how can it possibly know that?" Catalina objected with furrowed brows as the monkey sat up on its back legs and looked over in their direction.

"Shh!" Sandra hissed, watching the animal intently. It got back down and continued its search of the cage. Then, ever so slowly, it reached through one of the bars and grabbed the bread. With a quick glance around, it pulled the chunk towards itself, but the bread was too big to fit through the bars. The monkey jerked harder, but with no luck. Finally it dropped the bread with a frustrated screech and scurried around to the door. It hesitantly eyed the cage and its door, but its hunger for the bread won the battle and the monkey scurried into he cage and grabbed up the bread.

"Ok, go!" Catalina whispered excitedly.

Emma leapt from their hiding spot and sprinted over to the cage. The monkey was busily eating he bread and did not see her coming until she was within arm's reach and had locked the cage. It screeched angrily and jumped around, trying to break out.

"We did it!" Catalina shouted happily as she and Sandra rushed over to Emma.

"To be honest, I didn't think it would work," Sandra admitted.

"I see it did."

The three turned around to see Jack. They quickly attempted to brush off their clothes and fix their hair as discreetly as possible.

"I'll take this," Jack said, taking the cage from Emma, who flashed him a big smile. "As I said, yer out of yer punishment this time. But if ya let it out again, I won't let ya out of yer punishment jus' for catchin' it, savvy?"

"Aye, Captain!" The chorused happily.

"Tell all th' others ta leave it in its cage," Jack ordered as he turned and began walking away, the monkey screeching angrily at him the whole time.

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A/N: And I'll stop there. So sorry for making you guys wait! I…have no excuse. Does anybody forgive me? Hopefully? Will you review and make me feel better about not updating recently?


	11. We Scratched the Black Pearl

A/N: Hmm…Not much to say here other than some of your other OCs will be introduced. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own POTC, Nina, any of the students, or characters people have volunteered to be in the story. I only own Angel, Sandra, Snickers, and Carrie Ann.

Chapter 11

Emily's eyes shot open. Darkness greeted her and she remembered it was still night. Her hammock swung lazily with the rocking of the ship as they continued their voyage to Tortuga. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and slid on her boots. She reached for where she thought the door was and grabbed onto the handle, creaking it open slightly. Suddenly, a thought hit her. She turned back into the room and knelt down at Angel's bunk, which was directly across from hers.

"Hey," Emily whispered as she poked the sleeping girl. "Hey, I need to ask you something."

Angel gave a frustrated moan and rolled over to face Emily. "What?"

Emily hesitated at the snappiness in Angel's voice. Apparently, she was not a morning person. "Where did you say the bathroom, er, head is?"

"None of you bloody listened ta me an' it's cost me a night's sleep!" Angel shouted and Emily immediately began trying to calm her down. "There's no point bein' quite. They're all gone."

"I'm sorry," Emily whispered. "Where did they all go?"

"Same place you want," Angel replied tiredly. "A lot of 'em came in 'ere askin' me where it was when I had already bloody told 'em. Jus' go up on deck an' look fer a group o' girls."

"Thanks," Emily replied quietly. Angel rolled back over and Emily stood and left the small room. She quietly navigated the corridor and soon found herself up on deck. The moon was full and bright, glistening off the water that surrounded them. This only intensified Emily's dire situation. She soon spotted some girls standing on the opposite side of the ship and hurried over to them.

"I hope you didn't wake up Angel," came a greeting. The voice sounded like it belonged to Angela. "She wasn't in a very good mood when I woke her up to ask about the bathroom."

"I did," Emily replied with a tired sigh as one of the girls at the bathroom, which was beyond view, shouted for toilet paper. "And I had the opportunity to get snapped at."

"We all did," Mary said sympathetically.

"Yeah, I risked it too because I figured I better go while there were no men around," Jibsi said as she walked up to the group from where the head was located. "Thing is, though, there isn't any toilet paper."

The three blinked at her several times. Finally, Angela asked, "What's everybody using then?"

Jibsi shrugged. "Everybody's just getting creative." Then, with a carefree grin, she waved as she turned to go below deck. "Have fun."

Emily groaned to herself and rolled her eyes as Catalina approached the group. She turned and looked out at the ocean, but quickly brought her gaze back to the ship. "Who's up there now?"

"Currently, Sandra," Angela replied somewhat impatiently. With another bored sigh, Emily looked out to the ocean once again.

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The next morning, some of the girls practiced climbing up the ropes again and shortly after lunch, Will had them swordfight again. Benjamin had to stand by the side of the ship for most of the day, but this time Sandra stood with him. Both were feeling seasick due to the rougher waves. Finally, Emma remembered the dried up ginger they had given Ben the day before, so she and Catalina went in search for more. Neither let out the monkey this time. After that, Ben and Sandra were feeling more up to sword fighting and even eating lunch, so long as they did not eat much.

It was a few hours after lunch when Jack finally announced that they were about to make berth in Tortuga. The group was thrilled to finally be at the famous pirate port. Then they realized they had to make berth themselves.

"Go on, gather up th' sails!" Jack shouted to the group as he turned the wheel to the right a bit. "Catalina, hold on ta that rope! Don't let it go!" He squinted down at the group. "You, redhead, leave Angel be an' do as yer told!"

The ship seemed to slow until it almost stood still. Gibbs looked over the sides then looked up at the sails. "Don' bring 'em up that much!"

Mei and Emily, who had been chosen to climb up the mast from their rope climbing performance the day before, quickly began untying the ropes and letting the sails down little by little until Gibbs told them to stop.

The sailors watched uneasily as the girls rushed around the deck once again to perform their orders. Why anybody thought women running a ship was a good thing, they would never know. Most of the girls seemed unsure of what to do until told by Gibbs, Jack, a more experienced classmate, or one of the crew. But ever so slowly, they made berth. It was almost a relief until Jack ordered the anchor to be let down.

Mary and Ben rushed towards one anchor and Sandra and Lissie hurried for the other. The first anchor, which was Mary and Jibsi's, was released fine, but Sandra and Lissie's grazed against the side of the ship. The two watched in horror as it slid down the ship and into the water.

"Please tell me that didn't just happen," Sandra said quickly, the fear already rising within her. "Please tell me we didn't just mess up Jack's ship."

Lissie shook her head, eyes wide. "Maybe if we act like nothing happened, he won't notice."

The two slowly stood up from the looking over the side and looked at each other. Both were afraid.

"Who are we kidding?" Sandra asked. "This is Jack's _ship_! Of course he'll notice sooner or later."

"Hopefully later than sooner," Lissie mumbled and looked over the side once again. The long, ugly cut stared back up at her. She grimaced just as she heard footsteps coming their way.

"What are you two starin' at?" Jack asked suspiciously. The two glanced at one another before giving him a couple of nervous grins. He furrowed his brows and pushed his way past them. They scurried away just as his eyes widened. "What the bloody heck 'appened?!"

"It was an accident!" Sandra called. The two had managed to run down the stairs and take refuge within the group of students who were making their way off the ship. They all looked back at the two with confused looks.

"How is it possible you've done wha' none o' me other men 'ave ever done when lettin' down a bloody anchor?!" Jack asked as he took one last look at it.

"It was an _accident_," Angel repeated calmly as she walked over to Jack. "Whatever it was."

"It's a bloody cut in me ship!" He exclaimed angrily.

"They'll fix it," Angel replied with a look over in Sandra and Lissie's direction. The two nodded quickly in agreement. "See? Now let's get some rum, aye?"

Jack took one more look over his shoulder at the side where his beloved ship had been damaged before agreeing and warning the girls that they had better fix it correctly. How it was to be fixed correctly, though, was left to them to ponder. Angel looped her arm through Jack's and they left the ship together.

Sandra watched them go as Lissie slowly paced around the deck, trying to think. The blonde looked up from her thinking to see the other girl watching her worriedly. "Bloody help you are. Good thing I've already thought of something…"

"What is it?" Sandra asked desperately, hurrying up to her.

"We'll paint over it," Lissie announced. "With black paint. And if you don't like it, you try to come up with something better!"

"No, it's fine," Sandra said slowly, mulling over the thought in her mind. "But where do we get black paint?"

"We'll ask one of the natives," the blonde said nonchalantly as she strolled off the ship. Sandra hurried to catch up with her. "I'm sure they've got black paint _somewhere_. How else would he have gotten a black ship to begin with?"

Sandra glanced back over her shoulder at the black ship. Hopefully, there would be enough paint in stock to cover up their mess.

-------

Angel left Jack comfortably seated in the pub with a few of the girls from the school and walked with Elizabeth to try to find Will. After they had entered the city, the two had gotten separated and Elizabeth was wary about walking down the streets of Tortuga alone. Especially with the large amount of drunken pirate men running around. She was very grateful when Angel agreed to walk with her.

"Of all th' places ya had ta loose Will, ya chose Tortuga," Angel teased as she took a sip of her rum she had "borrowed" from the pub.

Elizabeth watched her with mild disapproval as the girl continued consuming the stolen beverage. "You know, if I had met you before you were kidnapped, I would have never believed you would be a pirate."

Angel shrugged. "Never can tell, can ya? I thought th' same myself, considerin' I hated pirates."

Elizabeth nodded to herself as she continued to scan the streets for her husband. She needed to find him before night fell and even more drunken men and women came out. It was already getting late in the evening, but the sun had not set yet. She figured she still had a few hours of daylight left.

"Hey!" Angel shouted and Elizabeth turned to see the girl trip and spill her rum all over the ground. Elizabeth reached down to help her up, but she would not accept. Angel stood and glared at a girl behind them. "You bloody tripped me an' made me spill my rum!"

"Angel, please…" Elizabeth whispered and tugged on the girl's arm. "Let's not start a fight in the middle of the street."

"It was an accident!" The other girl exclaimed, her dark mahogany colored eyes widening with fear.

"We all seem ta be full o' accidents today…" Angel mumbled to herself, remembering Sandra and Lissie's mishap earlier that evening.

"I'll buy you more rum to make up for it, alright?" The girl asked hopefully, managing to give the two a nervous smile.

Angel crossed her arms. "Fine. C'mon, then."

The girl smiled excitedly and hurried up next to them as they continued their walk down the street. Angel still seemed sore about loosing her rum, but Elizabeth chatted away with their newfound addition to the group.

"So tell me a little about you," Elizabeth said. "Your name, age…those type things."

"Well, I'm Serenity," she said, pulling her light brown hair with blonde highlights behind her, "and I'm seventeen. I've pretty much lived here on the streets my whole life-"

"You poor thing!" Elizabeth interrupted, grabbing the girl in a hug. "I can't believe some one would let a child grow up in a place like this!"

Angel coughed, more to herself than anybody. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the girl and continued, "You should come with us and get out of this place. There are plenty of other girls your age, including Angel. She's seventeen as well. She could probably use some friends, though. You see, she's having a fight with another girl…"

"Will!" Angel hollered and hurried over to him. With a quick glance over her shoulder to see Elizabeth and Serenity slowly walking towards them, she added quietly, "Save me."

Will chuckled. "Why? It seems you two have picked up a new friend."

Angel did not have time to reply before Elizabeth said, in an agitated tone, "Where did you go? I was worried about you!"

"I was looking at these swords," Will said, motioning behind him at the sharp blades. "I thought of getting one, but I know I can make a better one. So who's this?"

"This is Serenity," Elizabeth said and introduced her. "She'll be coming with us. She grew up on the streets here."

Serenity smiled happily as she shook Will's hand. Elizabeth then took hold of her husband's arm and began leading him back down the street towards the docks.

"So when can I get you more rum?" Serenity asked, walking beside Angel.

The other girl looked at her with a surprised look. She had certainly not expected that to be asked. "Uh…whenever I want some, I s'pose."

"Alright, just let me know," she said contentedly and spoke no more, but walked with a smile on her face.

Angel studied her for a moment, decided there was something definitely wrong with her, and took a few steps to the side to put a little distance between them as they walked on.

-------

Mary sat at a table in the corner of a pub with Emily and Jibsi. Both girls were laughing and chatting about how much fun the ride over to the island had been, but Mary was distracted. A boy with short, black hair who sat across the large room kept staring at her and what frightened her most was that she thought she recognized him. As she continued glancing over at him, it became clear to her who he was.

"Hey, I'll be right back," she said absentmindedly to the two girls sitting at the table. They watched her get up and head across the room before shrugging to themselves.

Mary's apprehension grew as she neared his table and finally she was positive she knew who he was. His brown eyes watched her walk towards him and a smirk formed on his face. He stood and walked towards her.

"Well, well, well," he said as he eyed her. "Look who's here."

Mary did not reply. She quickly glanced around before grabbing his arm and dragging him outside. When they were a fare distance away from everybody, Mary turned to him and whispered, "What do you think you're doing here, Greg Darkstone?"

"What's with all the whispering?" He sneered. "Nobody cares that you know me."

"Well, I do," she replied quickly, keeping her voice low so that nobody would overhear. "Now tell me what you're doing here."

"It's an accident, really," he replied casually, shoving a hand into his pocket. "When I sent you back here with the Time Staff, I had no intentions of coming here myself."

"How come you didn't just zap yourself back to our time, huh?" She asked, getting somewhat frustrated.

He gave a vague shrug, unwilling to answer. Mary controlled the urge to shout at him and only crossed her arms and said, "You better keep away from my friends or else-"

"Or else what?" Greg asked defiantly with a smirk on his face.

"You know what I can do with water," she replied threateningly as she shoved her way past him.

"Oh, I'm so scared!" He mocked and laughed as he watched her round the corner. With a chuckle to himself, he turned and walked the other way.

-------

"Hold on tight, men!" Mr. Gibbs hollered. The few men that had been ordered to stay behind and guard the Black Pearl grabbed onto the rope and held on as tightly as they could. "A'right, second group!" A few more men grabbed onto the second rope and held on.

Sandra glanced over the side of the ship and gulped. "Nice knowing you."

"Don't have that attitude!" Lissie ordered as she swung one leg over the side of the ship, tested the rope around her waist, and hopped off the side of the ship. The men holding her rope gripped it tightly as it suddenly became taut in their hands. The girl suddenly stopped in midair and laughed. "That was fun!"

"Easy for you to say…" Sandra muttered to herself as she swung her legs over the side of the ship and dropped. She screamed as she fell, but suddenly came to a stop only a few feet above Lissie's head.

"Ready fer th' paint?" Gibbs called down to them.

"Aye!" Lissie shouted up excitedly.

A small, makeshift crate soon appeared at the top of the Pearl and was quickly lowered down to the girls. Sandra grabbed out a large paint brush and a jar of paint. Gibbs continued lowering it until it reached Lissie and she was able to get her supplies. Then the two began painting, Lissie starting at the bottom and Sandra starting at the top.

"Paint fast, lasses," Gibbs called down to them. "Their arms are startin' ta hurt."

"We're trying!" Sandra called up to him as she continued painting as quickly as she could while still doing a good job.

"You better not drip paint on my head!" Lissie joked as she dipped her brush into the paint again.

Sandra chuckled and continued painting. This was definitely not her favorite position to be in, seeing as she was scared of heights and she was dangling in midair at this very moment. She quickly shoved the thought from her mind as asked to be lowered a bit more.

Gibbs watched the girls paint, wishing they could do it faster for the sake of the crew's arms. The girl were by no means heavy, but after a few minutes of suspending them in the air, they seemed to get heavier by the minute. Finally, much to his and the crew's relief, the two met at the middle of the scratch, painted over it, and announced that they had finished.

"Pull 'em up, men!" Gibbs shouted and watched as the crew tugged at the ropes, slowly lifting the two girls until they could climb onto the deck on their own. The two scrambled up and immediately untied the ropes from around their waist and rubbed where it had been. "Let's see 'ow ye did."

Gibbs peered over the edge. The light from the setting sun glistened off the wet paint, but he could not see any of the scratch peeking through it. He figured Jack would check on it in the morning, since he would not have much daylight left, and by then the paint would be completely dry and no one would be able to tell there had even been a scratch.

"Good job," he said with a smile as he turned to them. "Jack will be pleased."

They girls' relief showed on their faces and the crew looked relieved as well as they dismissed themselves to various areas of the ship. Gibbs patted each girl on the shoulder before heading below deck.

"Now what?" Sandra asked.

"You follow me ta th' pub," came a voice from behind them. The girls turned to see Angel. "Almost everybody else is waitin' there, so we'll get somethin' ta eat there…unless you 'ave a better idea?"

"No, no," Lissie replied quickly. Even though she hated pubs, she was starving and ready to eat. "Anywhere's fine."

"Good," Angel said and turned and began walking away. The two girls followed her as she continued speaking, "An' don't be surprised if ya find a girl named Serenity followin' me around everywhere…"

"What do you mean?" Lissie asked, confused.

"Oh you'll see…"

The two girls shrugged to each other and continued following Angel through the crowded streets. They would never have known which direction the pub was in, but were glad Angel did. At least they hoped she did. But they did not have to worry because Angel got them there safely.

The place was already beginning to get crowded by the time they arrived. Both men and women lingered outside, most of them very drunk by now. The girls hurried inside before any of the drunken men could change their minds about the local prostitutes and opt for something new. Once inside, the three made their way past the crowd to a mostly private corner where the rest of their group was sitting. Most of them were already eating the roasted chickens, bread, and apples that had been brought out.

"You know, I'm surprised a pub would even have something to eat," Sandra said to Lissie as the two seated themselves near Elizabeth, "much less something _decent_ to eat."

"I was really surprised too," Emma said, swallowing a mouthful of the chicken. Elizabeth agreed, letting them know this was her first time actually eating in a pub as well.

Sandra giggled to herself as Angel squeezed around to the side of the table against the wall. The side where Jack sat. She quickly ordered a girl with light brown hair with blonde highlights to move from the place she had obviously been saving beside Jack. Sandra admired Angel for being more than a puddle of mush around Jack. She silently wished she could be that way too then quickly realized many of the other girls at the table probably did too.

-------

After they finished eating and the prostitutes finally left Jack alone, mainly because of Angel and sometimes Emma threatening them when they would not, the group left the pub for the noisy, busy streets of Tortuga. Once there, Elizabeth and Will left for the Black Pearl, explaining that they would much rather sleep there than in one of the dirty inns.

"Wait, we're not going to have to sleep there, are we?" Angela asked after Will and Elizabeth left.

"It'll be better than the streets," Serenity, who had had experience with that, supplied. "I'd much rather sleep in an inn."

"Who the bloody heck is this, anyway?" Christine asked, frustrated that nobody had answered her question before.

"Serenity," Angel replied curtly before addressing Angela's question. "An', aye, we have ta sleep in th' inn."

There were mixed emotions about that as they tromped to the nearest inn, which also happened to be one of the cheapest. After Jack got rooms for all of them, he randomly began passing out room keys, but made sure not to give Christine and Angel neighboring rooms after the last time they had stayed at an inn. Then, with a very quick goodbye, he left the group alone, much to his fangirls' dismay.

After some of the girls recovered from Jack's absence, everyone began pairing up according to which rooms they shared. Luckily for all who were involved, Angel and Christine were on opposite ends of the building, which meant a peaceful sleep for all…or not.

"Something bit me!" Jibsi exclaimed as she jumped up form the bed she was forced to share with Mei.

The other girl did not respond, but merely jumped out of the bed as well. The two peered down at the thin, old mattress they had been attempting to sleep on, but did not see anything.

"Is is safe to sleep on?" Mei asked quietly, scanning the bed for any sign of the intruder.

"I wouldn't think so," Jibsi replied with a sigh. "I don't want any bugs eating me alive, so I'm going to sleep on the floor."

Mei nodded and pulled the sheets off the bed and made a thin pallet on the floor. The two fetched their worn out pillows from the bed and laid down. It was not nearly as comfortable as the bed had been, but that had not been very comfortable either.

"Night…" Jibsi mumbled as she squirmed around, trying to find a comfortable position. Mei muttered a quiet reply and the two settled in for a long night.

-------

A/N: And…done! Ok, so I just wanted to say that I'm not sure if it would be possible to scrape the anchor along the side of a ship, but I just put that in there for a bit of humor. For those of you whose volunteered OC wasn't introduced this chapter, they'll probably be introduced next time, ok? Oh, and if you need any help creating or developing an OC, be sure to visit my forum! Now, please review!


	12. Stealing With the New Teachers

A/N: Well, I really don' have much of an author's note to put here other than for you to go ahead and read the chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates, Nina, these students, or any of the characters you guys have volunteered for me to use in this story. As always, I only own Angel, Sandra, Snickers, and Carrie Ann. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write this and credit goes to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 12

Sandra's body felt stiff and achy as she rolled over and opened her eyes. Her face was inches from the wall and she realized she was laying on the floor. For a second, she could not remember why she was on the floor, but the memories from last night quickly flooded her mind as she began scratching her itching arm.

She and Angel had been forced to share a bed last night that Angel claimed was infested. She had quickly parked herself on the floor at the first sign of any bugs in the mattress. Sandra had thought the other girl was paranoid and went on to sleep. It was not until much later that night when she realized Angel had not been lying about the mattress being infested. By then, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of little flesh eating bugs had been nibbling at her skin and causing her to itch.

Sandra rolled back over, still scratching, to see Angel sitting across the room, trying to suppress a grin. With a frown, Sandra snapped, "Well why the heck didn't you tell me you were being serious?"

Angel shrugged and chuckled, finally allowing the grin to spread across her face. "Ye said I was crazy. Figured you'd learn on yer own."

"I did _now_…" Sandra grumbled as she sat up and began running her fingers through her hair in a pitiful attempt to keep it from becoming even more tangled. "I need a brush…" Then, with a glare at Angel she asked, "You enjoy seeing people like me suffer, don't you?"

"Not at all!" Angel replied as she stood and tossed her pillow and blanket onto the bed. "Actua'ly can't stand it unless they've 'urt other people or I jus' don't like 'em." When Sandra remained silent, Angel grabbed up her pillow and blanket and tossed them onto the bed as well before saying, "You don't believe me? Last night ya fergot yer blanket when ya got down on th' floor an' you were cold so I got one."

"Thanks…" Sandra mumbled, still not quite understanding this girl. With a frustrated sigh, she stopped combing her hair and stood. The two slipped on their shoes and left the room. The hall was empty. The only thing that moved was the dust that danced in the sun's rays as it drifted through the window at the end of the hall. "You wouldn't know where to get something for me to brush my hair with-"

Angel cut the girl off by banging loudly several times on Christine's door and hurrying away, laughing the whole time. Sandra rushed after her and had just ducked around the corner to the stairs when Christine poked her head out of the room and shouted, "I know that was you, Octogirl!"

Sandra finally caught up with Angel who was sitting at a table with Angela, Elizabeth, Emily, and Serenity. She plopped down next to Angel, who had put on an innocent face, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me to run?! That could've been me she was shouting at!"

"Who was shouting at you?" Elizabeth asked just as a large plate of various breakfast foods arrived.

"Christine was shouting at Angel again I'll bet," Angela stated, grabbing some of the eggs and meat off the large plate in the center of the table.

"I wish you two would stop fighting…" Elizabeth sighed to herself, knowing it would not stop them.

"Me too," Emily agreed. "It gets annoying."

"I can fight for you if you need me to," Serenity volunteered, taking a large bite out of her roll.

"No, I'm fine," Angel replied, grabbing the roll Sandra had been reaching for. "I can stand up fer myself."

Sandra grabbed the roll from Angel's hand just as she was about to bite it and said, "I can too." Then took a bite out of it.

Eager to change the subject, Emily asked, "So what are we doing today?"

Elizabeth swallowed her mouthful of food and said in a disapproving tone, "I think Jack said something about teaching everybody how to steal or pickpocket without getting caught."

"Seriously?!" Angela asked excitedly.

"This is going to be so awesome!" Emily said with a grin.

-------

Shortly after breakfast, Will took them out to a field on the outskirts of Tortuga and had them practice what they had been learning so far. He paired everybody up and stood by to make sure none of them got hurt. Every once in a while, he would step in and show someone the correct positions for their feet or hands, but tried to let them do it themselves as much as possible. Every now and then, he would have them switch partners so as to get used to different fighting styles. Several minutes after he had repaired them up, Jack swaggered up to the group.

After watching them slowly practice their technique, he asked, "Are they even gettin' better?"

"A little," Will replied. "They've only been doing this for a little over a week now, you know." He paused momentarily to study their movements again before shouting, "Emma, stop showing off and do that move correctly!"

Jack laughed. "Aye, they're gettin' better, a'right! You've got ta tell 'em not ta show off when I come around."

"They're still learning," Will replied, defending his new students. "Alright, everybody, that's it for today. Good-"

Angela suddenly cut him off with a scream. Everyone's heads turned in her direction almost simultaneously. She was hunched over, holding her right arm and Mary, who had been her sparring partner, looked horrified.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Mary cried, a hand covering her mouth. "Are you alright?"

Angela managed to nod a bit just before Mei tackled her, throwing her to the ground. Mei quickly produced, seemingly from nowhere, bandages and a small canteen of water and began cleaning and wrapping the wound. Angela was too stunned to respond at first, but when she opened her mouth to say that she was alright, Mei had finished and stood and was offering a hand to help the other girl up. Angela took it and stood, still in a bit of a daze over what had just happened.

"It's not too deep," Mei said quietly. "It should heal soon."

"Thanks…" Angela mumbled as she examined the tightly wrapped bandage.

"How did she get cut?" Will asked, addressing Mary.

"We were practicing those moves and feet positions like you showed us," Mary explained quickly, "and everything was going fine until she started to slip on that rock over there. I reached out to try to keep her from falling, but I accidentally cut her with my sword instead."

Will paused to examine the scene before saying, "Well, it was an accident. Mei seemed to do a good job of cleaning and wrapping the cut, as best as I can tell. She was going too fast for me to really see… Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later and it will surely happen again. Since everybody's alright now, that will be all for today's lesson. Jack will take you into town and show you how to steal without getting caught."

"Actual'y, William, I won't be teaching them today. Seems we've run into someone else who will," Jack quickly corrected, vaguely motioning over his shoulder. Some students looked behind him to see what he was motioning towards, but only saw some houses on the outskirts of Tortuga.

"Oh, alright, then…" Will said, furrowing his brows at the other man and bringing the student's attention back to him. "Well, Jack will lead you to the person teaching you the class then."

"_People_, actual'y," Jack corrected once again as he whirled around and began walking towards the town. "They'll be in good 'ands, William, don't worry!"

The group left Will standing in the field, shaking his head at the other man's carelessness, and beginning to worry about who Jack had in mind to teach them.

-------

"A'right!" Jack said loudly, whirling around to face the group behind him. "Now yer prob'ly all wonderin' why yer learnin' ta steal in th' middle of th' day. That's because most everybody is still sufferin' from a hangover from last night and since they are now would be just as good ta learn as tonight. But you're doin' yer actual _stealin_' tonight. Right now yer just learnin' an' you better pay attention because if you don't you'll go to bed hungry because you've got ta steal your supper, savvy?"

"Aye, captain!" The Jack fan girls chimed in unison while the rest of the group gave different variations of the word "yes."

Jack grinned at them. "A'right then! Stay 'ere an' I'll go get 'em."

He swaggered off, leaving them standing in the middle of the street, looking around expectantly. Soon several minutes had passed and they were getting impatient. Some of them sat down out of the way of the few men and women who passed by.

"I think he abandoned us," Serenity said with a sigh as she flopped onto the ground next to Angel's feet.

"Jack so wouldn't do that," Catalina protested from her seat on a crate of some sort. Emma was quick to agree.

"Here he comes!" Angela pointed ahead of the group and those who were sitting quickly stood up and brushed the seat of their pants off.

As Jack approached, several girls squealed at the sight of who their new "teachers" would be. Jack quickly waved his hands, signaling them to stop their excited squealing.

"If I had known it'd be this noisy, I'd have taught it meself," Jack mused to himself before addressing the group. "I see yer all familiar with Pintel and Ragetti, so I'll leave you with 'em." He turned and started to leave, but not before quietly wishing the two men good luck.

The two hesitantly watched Jack leave before turning back to the eager faces. Ragetti looked down at his friend. "Uh, why don't you start us off?"

Pintel glared at his friend and swatted his arm. "Fine. But I don't think right in th' middle o' th' town is th' best place ta teach somethin' like this."

"'Ow 'bout we go down to the docks or thereabouts?" Ragetti suggested, peering over the students' heads at the ocean. "Not too many people over there."

"Good idea!" Jibsi, who had not had a chance to enjoy the ocean since they got to this time period, piped up.

In a few short minutes, the group was at the outskirts of the docks. Pintel grabbed a nearby crate and sat down and Ragetti positioned himself on top of a barrel. Most of the girls randomly sat on the planks that surrounded the two new teachers, but some sat on coiled rope or leaned on the posts that held up the dock. The smell of freshly caught fish lingered in the air, causing some of them to scrunch up their noses at the smell.

"Oh don't worry 'bout that," Ragetti said about the smell of the fish. "I think you'll be learnin' 'ow ta catch 'em tomorrow."

This did not make the smell go away, but it distracted them from the smell of the fish and some men a few docks away who were watching the girls of the group with lust filled eyes.

"So," Pintel started, unsure of how to start, "'ow many o' you know 'ow to steal?"

Several in the group raised their hands.

"Without gettin' caught," he said dryly.

Most who had raised their hands lowered them leaving only Ben, Lissie, Serenity, and Angel with their hands still up.

"Good, if someone don't catch on, you four can 'elp 'em," Pintel stated, pausing a moment to consider what he was to say next. "Well, I never taught nothin' before, 'specially not stealin'. Guess I'll start an' see 'ow it goes. First off, you've got to be casual about it, else someone'll know somethin's up. Can't go up actin' nervous. Then, when nobody's lookin', ya grab what it is you want and scurry off."

"If we run, won't that be suspicious?" Angela asked.

"Not if ye run fast," Pintel stated. Ragetti chuckled a bit to himself.

"'Elps if yer wearin' somethin' with pockets," Ragetti added.

"Aye, else someone'll see the loot yer runnin' off with," the other man agreed. "It's best to take small things at first 'til you get experienced. Also, I wouldn't recommend pick pocketing 'til you get used to this kind of work. But I guess the best way to get used to it is to try it."

"Jack said we weren't actu'ly stealin' 'til tonight," Angel pointed out in protest, but Pintel only absentmindedly waved a hand at her.

"Where we goin' ta try it?" Ragetti asked, apparently at a lack of safe scenarios.

"There are some guys over there that keep staring at us," Emma said, poking her thumb over her shoulder in their general direction. Sandra, who sat next to her, slapped the other girl's leg for saying anything about it, but Ragetti had heard.

"She's got a point there," Ragetti said to his friend.

"About them starin' at these girls?" Pintel asked, looking confused.

"No, 'bout there bein' men over there," the other man clarified. "Couple o' girls could sneak over there an' steal somethin'."

Pintel shrugged. "Fine. Pick two ta go."

Ragetti scanned the group before finally pointing at Emma because she suggested it, and Lissie because she was experienced. Lissie, casting a quick glare at Emma, stood and slowly began leading the way. All eyes were on the two girls, including those of the lusty men who they were hesitantly making their way towards

Jibsi glanced over at Pintel and Ragetti, who were sitting back and watching the two girls, before standing up and squinting at the men. "Emma and her big mouth…Come on, girls, lets create a distraction!"

"How?" Sandra asked, looking up at her.

"We're girls and they're wanting some company," she explained, now getting Pintel and Ragetti's attention. "How else do we create a distraction for such men?"

Angela, grinning, jumped to her feet and cupped her hands around her mouth, "Hey, boys!"

Several girl laughed at her calling grown men "boys," but it got their attention. While Jibsi hollered at them a bit, Angela quickly motioned for the other girls to stand. Angel, Mary, Serenity, and Catalina shrugged to themselves and stood, leaving the rest of the group sitting.

"Now just pretend those guys over there are Will or Jack," Jibsi quickly said. "Whichever you prefer." Upon hearing this, Sandra quickly stood with a fan girlish grin plastered on her face. Jibsi smiled at the look. "Ok, lets go!"

Sandra and Catalina carefully climbed up onto neighboring posts and began dancing to their favorite songs, which were two completely different ones so it did not sound good when they started singing them. Ignoring the horrible clashing notes, the rest of the girls started strutting around, trying to act sexy, but it looked more like sand had gotten into their breeches.

The men started chuckling and mumbling things to themselves, but still did not look away.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jibsi noticed that Emma and Lissie were each stuffing something into their pockets. With a grin she said, "Not too much longer!"

"Good!" Angel exclaimed. "See if I ever do somethin' this stupid again…"

"This is kind of fun, being a distraction and all," Catalina said, giggling to herself as she watched Emma and Lissie make a mad dash back to their dock.

"Well hop back down. We're done," Jibsi said, laughing as Emma and Lissie reached their group, panting slightly from the run.

"What did ya get?" Ragetti asked curiously, watching them reach into their bulging pockets with his one eye.

"One of 'em had a couple apples sittin' around," Lissie explained as she pulled the large round fruit from her pocket. "And another was holdin' a bottle of rum, but was so distracted by these girls that he didn't notice when Emma took it."

Ragetti chuckled to himself just as Catalina and Sandra squealed and plummeted into the fairly deep blue water below. The group rushed forward and peered over the edge, trying to catch a glimpse of the two, but only saw hundreds of small bubbles.

"Jack's gonna kill us," Ragetti mumbled to himself as Mei began tugging at her boots to get them off.

Suddenly, two heads popped up from under the surface, one blonde and one sandy blonde. Collective sighs of relief escaped everyone present as Catalina hollered up to them that they were fine and that they would meet them at the shore. Nervous laughs escaped a few at the thought that they could have lost two of their new friends as some in the group began walking to meet the two.

-------

She glanced down at the loaf of bread just lying there. No one was watching. Everyone was getting drunk and the woman who had baked it had gone back to the kitchen. Now was her chance to get something for supper.

A nearby gunshot sounded and echoed off the stone walls around her, causing her to jump. Hastily, she grabbed the bread and shoved it down the front of her loose shirt and scurried away, leaving no clue that it was she who had taken the bread.

That was what had gone through Mei's head dozens of times already, but each time with a little alteration so that in the end it turned out perfectly. In reality, she was crouched behind an empty barrel, sniffing the delicious smell of bread cooking in the house just across the dirt street. The woman had not yet finished cooking it, but it smelled wonderful and was tempting Mei to barge in with a fake pistol and demand the woman give it to her. But she did not have a fake pistol, so there would be no way to follow through on that plan.

Finally, the woman came to the window and placed the steaming bread close to it. The seconds passed by agonizingly slow before she turned and walked back through the dark house.

Mei hastily glanced up and down the street to see both ways were empty. Now was her chance. She crept from behind the barrel, almost tipping it over as she went, scurried up to the window, and crouched beneath it. Giving the street one more quick glance, she reached up and felt around for the object that was giving off such a delightful smell. The tips of her fingers suddenly came in contact with the extremely hot object and she jerked them back with a yelp. Tenderly, she blew on them until they were fairly cool before peeking up into the window.

The woman inside the house let out a scream and Mei knew beyond a doubt that she had been spotted. The girl quickly leapt to her feet, snatched up the steaming bread, and ran down the street as fast as her legs would carry her, carefully tossing the loaf from one hand to the other.

"Get back 'ere wit' me bread!" The woman yelled.

Mei quickly dashed around a corner and hurried towards the docks, not daring to look back. She had enough trouble with looking straight ahead and trying to dodge several drunken men and women at this speed. She dashed around another corner. The sea was in sight. Grinning, she finally glanced back over her shoulder to see that no one was chasing her, but when she turned around she came face to face with a tall boy with black hair. Unable to stop, the two fell into the dirt, the freshly baked bread flying out of Mei's hands.

"You punk!" He shouted and stood and brushed himself off. For a moment, Mei thought he was about to kick her, but he did not. "You can't even watch where you're going!"

Mei scrambled to her feet and whispered an apology, but he did not hear. He had taken a few steps away from her and picked something up. She tore her eyes from the ground to see him brushing off the bread she had worked hard to steal.

"That's mine," she said quietly as she took a few steps closer towards him.

"Not anymore it's not," he said, taking a large bite out of it. "You were just the delivery girl."

Mei watched in horror as he grinned evilly at her and turned and walked off. She wanted her bread back, but she was not good enough with a sword to possibly get it back by force. Sighing, she grabbed up a shiny, red apple that had fallen from her pocket and walked the rest of the way to the docks.

Most of the group was already there, munching on what they had stolen for their supper. Pintel and Ragetti sat away from the group, but kept an eye on them to make sure none were hurt and that all got back safely. They certainly did not want to get in trouble with Jack or Will or anybody else, for that matter. They had better things to do.

Mei arrived and flopped down onto some coiled rope next to Mary, who was busily eating a banana. At the sight of the other girl's empty hands, Mary asked, "Didn't you manage to get anything?"

"Had some bread, but a boy took it," she explained quietly, not wanting to let everybody hear.

"What'd the boy look like?" Angel asked from across the dock.

"Like you," Christine mumbled just loud enough for the other girl to hear, but Angel did not respond this time.

"He was tall, had short black hair, and was muscular," Mei replied, taking a bite out of her apple.

Mary looked at the girl beside her, but did not say another word. She had an uneasy feeling and just hoped it was not right.

"Well, if I see 'im, I'll-" Angel cut herself off and looked to Sandra. "What is it?"

"Kick his butt," Sandra supplied with a giggle.

"Aye, that, whatever that means," Angel continued, causing those from the twenty-first century to erupt into laughter.

Mary stared down at the faded wood of the dock. She was almost positive that boy Mei had described had been Greg, but she hoped against all hope that it was not.

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A/N: Done! Ok, I've got something for you guys to vote on. Ready? I want you to vote on which character in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies you want to see more of in the next chapters (excluding Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Pintel, and Ragetti because they're going to be in them no matter what). It can be Davy Jones, Barbossa, Norrington, anybody! Just vote and the character with the most votes will appear more or for the first time if they aren't in the story so far. Go ahead and vote in your reviews! Thanks!


	13. Surrender

A/N: Ok, so you guys have spoken. The person who got the majority of votes is………you'll see. Heehee.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates, these students, Nina, or any volunteered characters. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write my own and credit goes to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 13

The next morning came too early for all, including Angel who was used to getting up early. A rude pounding on the doors of their rooms sounded even before the dawn broke. None were sure who was causing the racket, but none cared at that early in the morning. Even through shouts and curses to leave them alone, the noise persisted and finally forced them out of their beds and into the hall.

"That took bloody long enough!" Stated the woman impatiently who had interrupted their sleep. "Well, come on then, we got ta get started before the fish lose interest."

"'Old on a bloody minute," Angel, who was not a morning person at that early hour, stated indignantly. "Ye woke us up at unheard of hours o' th' mornin' for _fish_?"

"Fish aren't worth it!" Lissie exclaimed angrily as she turned and stomped back into her room.

The woman, who they could now see was dark skinned, crossed her arms. "If none of ye come, then ye'll all fail at this pirate school. I was instructed by William Turner 'imself ta teach ya to catch fish an' ye'll all bloody well come when I say!"

Some girls perked up at the mention of Will's name.

"Well, let me get my boots."

"Somebody get Lissie!"

"How did Ben get back to sleep with all that pounding?"

Finally, after much hustling from Will's fan girls, the group was trudging along down the dirt road towards the ocean, carrying with them a bit of breakfast. The Caribbean air was cool and mildly damp that early in the morning and some of the group shivered all the way to the small fishing boat they would spend most of the morning on. They had a bit of trouble boarding the vessel due to the lack of light, but once on, their guide, who had not said much more than a few orders the whole morning, took it upon herself to introduce herself.

"Name's Anamaria," she stated simply. "I'm teachin' ya 'ow to catch fish with nets since it's more likely there'll be nets and not rods on yer ship. Now, everyone get up! Someone untie that rope, a couple of ye let out the sails. Don't 'spect me ta do it all."

The deck was a mess of rushing girls while Benjamin and Mei clambered up the mast and let out the sails. Slowly but surely, they started to pull away from the docks and the shores of Tortuga and head towards open water.

Anamaria made no effort to initiate a conversation with any of the students. She stayed at the end of the boat with the tiller in hand, making sure they were on course. The rest of the group either dozed off or stared off silently at the dark waters ahead, listening to the boat as it glided through the water.

Once they were clear of Tortuga's horse-shoe bay, a cool wind caught their sails and pulled them further into the open, almost as though it were drawing them there. For several minutes, they sailed on in peace until Anamaria decided that they had gone far enough to let out their net and start catching fish. Once at the place she designated as their fishing spot, she began shouting orders. The student's startled jumps rocked the boat slightly, but Anamaria continued shouting until she was satisfied that all were moderately awake. "A'right then. Now that yer all awake, tie a rope to th' net an' start lettin' it out."

Angela and Emma worked the tangled net out from around itself while Jibsi tied a sturdy knot that attached it to a rope and finally the whole contraption was lowered into the water. When they had sat back down, Anamaria turned to the rest of the group and stated, "An' that's how you _don't_ let out the net. Pull it back up and throw it out a good ways from th' ship."

The three groaned, but obeyed regardless. Shortly after they heard the net smack the water several feet away from the boat, Anamaria turned back to the group and kicked the bottom of Christine's boot. The girl awoke with a start and blearily looked up at the woman.

"If I see any of ye sleepin', ye'll be thrown overboard, understand?" Anamaria stated. Those who were awake nodded vigorously and shook their sleeping friends until they had woken as well. Satisfied, she smiled sarcastically and stepped back to the tiller. Everyone made a conscious effort to stay awake from then on.

"So, uh," Emma started uncertainly, "how long do you think we'll be out here?"

"A good day's work usually takes until mid afternoon or a bit later," Anamaria explained. This was perhaps the first time that they had not heard her yell. "If we get lucky, it might only take us 'til noon."

"I hope we get lucky…" Ben, who did not have any ginger to chew on, muttered to himself.

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Several hours and many raw hands later, the students had successfully completed a day of fishing, much to their delight. They had not been lucky enough to end the day by noon. By the time they got back to Tortuga, it was getting late in the evening. They were exhausted, hungry, and reeked of dead fish. The day before, the prospect of learning to fish had seemed exciting, now they only wished they never had to do it again.

After helping Anamaria lug several heavy crates of fish onto the shore to sell, they quickly deserted her in hopes of not being asked to do anything more that day than nurse their raw and somewhat bloody hands. But Will soon located them and gave them another lesson in sword fighting, much to their dismay. Thankfully, he saw how worn out they were and cut the lesson short, leaving them only to steal their supper once again. There were no more problems than normal that accompanied stealing. Angry women, cursing store owners, guns going off by random drunk men.

Supper was quite that night. No one bragged over how many fish they had caught that day or how tanned they would be after the painful sunburn wore off. They quietly ate their meal and most went back to the inn for a long night's sleep. The rest slid back far enough on the beach so that the ocean would not reach them and laid back and gazed at the stars, the hoots and hollers and random guns shots all a blur in the background.

"Make you feel small, doesn't it?" Sandra murmured to no one in particular.

"Sure does," Emily agreed, picking out what constellations she could see.

Silence followed for a few moments before Serenity spoke. "I hope you all don't think I'm trying to intrude on your classes and stuff… It's just that…I've never really had any family or very many friends and…"

"You're not intruding," Jibsi assured honestly. "We don't mind."

"Thanks," the girl paused. "When I saw Angel she looked to be my age and I was just hoping maybe she would want to be friends with me."

"Glad ya think so highly of me," Angel mumbled somewhat sarcastically and rolled over. "Now shut up and go ta sleep."

The girls snickered at her mock irritation, but said no more and soon they were all asleep.

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Nina frantically scrambled up the stairs the next morning and dashed down the hall. "Wake up, everybody! _Wake up_!"

She randomly pounded on the doors and continued yelling and shouting as loud as was possible. Finally, several angry students filed out of their rooms and stood with arms crossed, waiting for a reasonable explanation as to why they had been woken up so rudely.

"It's Norrington!" Nina huffed and the expression on their faces changed from anger to confusion. "He's escaped."

"What?!" Lissie exclaimed.

"A sailor has been going around complaining that his boat and crew was stolen by a man with a messy white wig," Nina continued, "early this morning. We don't know exactly where he went, but we have a strong suspicion. I need all of you- Where's every one else?"

"I don't think they ever came back from the beach," Mary supplied.

Nina muttered something under her breath. "All of you get down the Pearl as fast as you can. I'll go get the others."

Without waiting for reply, Nina rushed past the group and back down the stairs. Bursting through the door, she was momentarily blinded by the sun, but did not stop her fast pace. In a few short minutes, she was down at the beach, scanning both ways for any signs of the sleeping girls. Finally, she spotted them and ran to them, shouting at them to get up. Angel was the first to raise her head and give her a confused sleep-induced look and that was shortly followed by the rest of them giving her the same expression.

"What the bloody heck?" Angel asked irritably.

"We have to get to the Pearl," Nina said, trying to catch her breath. "_Now_. I'll explain when we get there."

Confused, the girls stood to their feet, brushed the sand off their clothes, and followed Nina to the Black Pearl. Along the way, they were given a quick summary of what all had happened while they slept and were shocked at the sudden turn of events. Those who knew of Norrington's capture had completely forgotten that he had been in the brig all that time and were somewhat ashamed that they had.

Nina hurried to the Pearl faster than any knew was possible and quickly ushered them all onto the deck. Once there, she called, "Elizabeth and I aren't coming. Everybody be careful. I expect you all to make it back in one piece!"

A ripple of nervous laughter echoed through the group, mirrored by their equally nervous faces.

"Lift th' anchor!" Jack shouted, jerking the students from their worried thoughts. They scrambled around with the rest of the crew and successfully managed getting the Black Pearl out of the harbor safely.

"Do we know where he went?" Emma asked to no one in particular.

"Jack 'as his suspicions," Gibbs replied, but did not speak on the subject further. "I suggest ye prepare yourselves fer yer first real battle."

He turned and began walking away, but Angela quickly asked, "How do we do that?"

"Clean your weapons, make sure ya can get to 'em easily," Angel explained calmly, "an' try ta calm down. You'll be a more effective fighter if yer calm."

Gibbs nodded in agreement and walked off. The group turned to the few girls that had actually been in a battle before and began mimicking their actions by wiping their swords and knives clean. Sitting in random spots on the deck, wiping the white cloth along their blades until they looked like new was almost soothing to them. Their nerves were beginning to calm when Will called them together at the mast.

"Now, I know we haven't taught you how to shoot a gun yet," Will explained and held out several pistols similar to that of Jack's. "That was actually going to be tomorrow's lesson. How many of you already know how to shoot a gun and can successfully hit your target?"

Four people raised their hands. Serenity, Emily, Lissie, and Emma. Will handed them each a pistol first. "They've already got bullets in them and they all work. I tested them while Nina was getting everybody rounded up. To the rest of you who can't hit your target, I'm giving you each a pistol anyway to use only in emergencies."

Marty and Mr. Cotton stepped forward, each holding several pistols bunched together in a large metallic cluster. Will carefully took the weapons one by one and handed them to the remaining students and showed them how to stick it in their sashes so that the guns could easily be jerked free if need be. When all had been passed around, each student had roughly two pistols each.

"You can all go back to cleaning your weapons if you want," Will concluded and, after wishing them all good luck, turned and left them. His fan girls quickly followed him, anxious to be with him one more time because it could possibly be their last. Others ambled off to be alone or with the girls they had grown closest to in what short time they had know one another.

"How close do you think we are?" Sandra asked in a hushed tone, as if such an event required reverence.

"Jus' depends on how far 'e got," Angel replied.

After a long pause, Serenity said, "I'm scared."

"Me too," Emma agreed, an involuntary shiver racked her body. Mary quietly nodded in agreement.

They sat in silence for a long while, each immersed in their own thoughts of how the battle would go, how they would fight, or how they could possibly avoid it altogether. They almost all preferred the idea of the third choice. So what if Norrington got away and told someone in a higher authority about their little pirate school? They knew how to moderately sail a ship. They could escape if need be.

Fear can do strange things even to the bravest of souls.

"Sail, ho!" Came the shrill cry from the crow's nest. The students jumped from the sudden loud noise.

Jack strode over to the starboard side and pulled out a small telescope. Several seconds passed before he pulled it away from his eye and stowed it back in his pocket. "Aye, that's them."

At the news, the students rushed over to the side of the ship and squinted off into the distance. They could faintly make out the outline of the white sails and a small ship against the hazy backdrop of the sky. Immediately, dread and anxiety filled them.

"By th' looks of it, they're on a sloop," Jack stated, as if it made much sense to the frightened students. "Shouldn't be hard t' catch 'em and take 'em."

"Wh-what's a sloop?" Jibsi managed through chattering teeth. "And how can you be so sure it will be easy to take them?"

"Sloop's a small ship. Smaller than the Pearl, but bigger than a fishin' boat," Jack explained calmly, still watching the tiny object on the horizon. "Some use it for fishin', but most use it to transport things in small quantities. An' since the Pearl is s' much bigger than 'er, it won't be a problem t' take 'em. But it's the sailors ta watch out for."

The news at how it would possibly be easy to overcome the other ship took quite a bit of the dread off the student's shoulders, but there was still the matter of the crew. They would not be taken easily. Not if they were of the same mindset of Norrington, which was a definite possibility that they were.

"How long 'til we catch them?" Mary asked uncertainly, not sure whether she hoped it to be a long time or just a few minutes.

Jack glanced back at the sails on his own ship and then to the sloop which was still small on the horizon. "Shouldn't be too long. With th' wind with us, that is."

The news was received with mixed emotions. Some wanted to delay the fight as long as possible; others wanted it over with quickly. The group dispersed once again to various areas of the deck, waiting fearfully for the fighting to begin.

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For the next half hour, they watched the sloop grow larger and larger on the horizon and with it, their anxiety grew. They passed the time idly, wiping their blades once again, sitting with friends, or following either Jack or Will around in case it was the last time they ever saw them.

The pirate flag brought a whole new reality to their plight. When the pirates first strung up the flag, a sense of pride swept through the students for an instant at the thought of it being their flag as well. Then it was quickly replaced with fear once again because they knew the fight was growing nearer. The flag waved proudly in the wind, defying any rules or regulations the rest of the world had to follow. They were all pirates and the white skull and crossbones on the black backdrop proclaimed it unashamedly to all.

Once they were within five hundred yard of the sloop, Jack called together all the students while the crew began readying the guns.

"Yer probably all scared," he began, already understating what was rushing through their minds, "but yer all goin' ta fight. I don't care if ya only get one swing in, yer goin' ta fight. If you don't, I'll maroon ya on an abandoned spit o' land and won't care what th' bloody head-master says 'bout it, savvy?"

Various forms of the word "yes" came from them and they tried to put on a brave face, but were not too successful. Jack, not being one to offer comfort, left them and began giving various orders to his crew, which left the students no time to freeze up from dread. They scurried around the deck, shoving cannon balls into the cannons, carefully lugging around gunpowder to whoever needed it.

"Angle off so we don't hit 'em hard!" Sandra heard Jack call from somewhere behind her.

Snapping out from her moment's pause, she quickly handed Mr. Gibbs a cannon ball. Her hands were trembling violently. Suddenly the Pearl and the sloop collided, making her feel as though her bones were rattling together as she grabbed onto the railing to keep from falling. There were shouts from the other ship and she wondered for a moment if they were as terrified as she or if those were shouts of excitement.

Boards were placed across the gap between the two ships and sea of pirates rushed the other men. Sandra followed suit, pulling out her sword and screaming and flailing it around like a madwoman, all of what Will had taught her disappeared from her mind. She reached the deck with a thud and accidentally cut a man's cheek, but oddly he did not fight back, he only ran in terror. Determined not to be marooned on a deserted island, she chased after him. Suddenly, a bright light appeared before her eyes and a knife-like pain rushed through her skull. She dizzily staggered backwards and fell to the deck.

Several of her classmates hovered over her, all wearing worried expressions. They all looked blurry as she squinted to try to see them better. From what she could tell they were Emma, Catalina, and Mei. All the faces were melting into one. She could vaguely hear them asking if she was alright. They sounded distant. The edges of her vision grew darker and darker until she finally passed out.

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The first sensation she felt was a dull, throbbing pain on the right side of her head. She furrowed her brows and squinted open her eyes, but quickly shut them. The light from the lantern next to her hurt her eyes. She turned her head and groaned to herself.

"Hey, she's coming to!" Exclaimed a voice and the sound of pounding feet was almost deafening.

Sandra opened her eyes and blinked a couple times and peered up into the faces of her friends. Someone was moving her hair around. She glanced over to see Mei examining the side of her head then look intently into her eyes.

"How bad is it?" Sandra managed. Her throat was dry and she just knew she had been shot or stabbed.

"It's a pretty big knot, but you'll be alright," Mei answered. "Your pupils aren't dilated weird, so that's good."

It took a moment to register what the girl had just said. "What happened then?"

"You ran up onto th' other ship like a mad woman!" Angel exclaimed, laughing and Sandra glowered pitifully at her. She did not find this humorous. "Never 'ave seen anyone behave like that before a battle. Ya ran up an' cut that poor fellow before they even had th' chance to bring out th' white flag."

"They…surrendered?" Sandra asked, the pain in her head beginning to increase. "Then how come I got stabbed or shot or something?"

"You weren't stabbed or shot as far as we know," Emma said. "You did get whacked on the head pretty hard."

"Aye, ya wouldn't calm down so one man grabbed an ore and hit ya with it," Angel chuckled to herself and held out a half empty bottle. "Mei said yer head'll prob'ly start hurtin' more so ya might want something ta ease th' pain."

"Angel got thirsty before you woke up," Catalina said, pointing to the half empty bottle.

Sandra slowly eased herself up onto her elbows and took the bottle and tilted it skywards. The liquid was warm and made her mouth feel tingly. Before she knew it, the bottle was completely empty and she realized she had downed it all at once.

"We got Norrington, by the way," Emma volunteered. "He's not too happy about it all, but he and Jack are negotiating some terms and such."

Sandra nodded and stood with the help of Mei and Catalina and dizzily made her way out of the galley, which was where she had been "dumped" when she had been brought back onto the ship. They made their way up on deck and, thankfully, the sun was beginning to set.

"Ah, there she is!" Gibbs exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. "Got a smart hit on th' head, eh?"

Sandra half smiled and nodded at the way he understated it. The rum was starting to make her head feel more numb and make her want to giggle for no reason. She looked up past the man to see Jack and Norrington emerging from their meeting. Jack looked triumphant, Norrington looked annoyed.

"Is she up yet?" Jack called to Mr. Gibbs, who blocked his view of Sandra.

"Aye, Cap'n, right here," the man stepped out of the way.

"Good," Jack stated simply before moving on to other matters of more importance. "The commodore and I 'ave come to an agreement. He's not to say a word about our little school or try t' escape s' long as we don't hurt 'im."

"That's not what your end of the deal was originally," Norrington grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Pirate," Jack stated, grinning slightly at the underhanded victory. Norrington scowled and walked off. "Since th' poor fellows surrendered, I won't hold to my promise of dropping off those who didn't fight on a deserted island."

Cheers erupted from the students. Sandra's head throbbed.

"We're headin' back to Tortuga," he continued, "an' day after tomorrow, we'll head out again."

Curiosity tugged at each student's mind as Jack meandered off, but Sandra's mind was still stuck on the surrender of their would-be victims.

"How come they surrendered?" She asked to any one who was listening.

"Marty says it's because they aren't pirates and knew that if they surrendered, they would be less likely to get killed," Angela explained. "I don't blame them either! We were probably a sight coming on their ship like that."

Serenity nodded in agreement. "So how are you feeling?"

Sandra shrugged, honestly not sure what to say. The rum was numbing the pain like Angel said it would, but it was still lingering. On top of all that, she was feeling a bit dizzy again. Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "Did anyone else get hurt?"

"Ben twisted his ankle when he jumped down onto the other ship's deck," Jibsi answered. "And, Angela, didn't you say you tore open you cut?"

The other girl nodded, absentmindedly rubbing her arm. "Yeah, other than that I think everybody else is ok. A little shaken up, but ok."

Sandra nodded and smiled as best as she could at the moment. Her mind was running off to other things already. Her stomach was growling from the lack of food since the small breakfast she had earlier and she was exhausted. As if reading her mind, Jibsi took hold of her arm and began guiding her back towards the hatch. "Lets get you something to eat. Rum and an empty stomach don't go together well."

Sandra allowed herself to be led back down below, grateful to be alive to eat the supper she thought she would never live to see.

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A/N: Ok, so the character most voted on was Norrington, but I had to put Anamaria at the first so they could learn to fish. Norrington will be in more future chapters more and I'll also be bringing in some others too. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!


	14. To the Gallows

A/N: Back again! And I've got a brilliant idea for this chapter. I think it's brilliant, anyway. But before we start, I skipped a few weeks to begin with because it would basically be the same thing over and over again: swordfights, pick pocketing, stealing their food, learning to shoot a gun (hey, that's new!). But yeah, that would get pretty boring. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates, the students, Nina, or any volunteered characters. I only own Angel, Sandra, Carrie Ann, and Snickers. SirenoftheStorm's story inspired me to write this and credit goes to Camilla Sandman.

Chapter 14

The days turned into weeks and the weeks eventually took the students out of August and placed them squarely in early October. The days grew hotter and more humid and there often came a up a storm seemingly from nowhere. It was during this time that the students learned to keep their footing on a wildly rocking ship and soon they had no problems standing at sea whatsoever. Benjamin's seasickness even decreased somewhat and there was less and less need for ginger.

The students' sword fighting skills were increasing at a steady rate and Will bragged on them several times. Their hands became sailor's hands, tough and callused, and they grew stronger and stronger, both physically and in friendships with their fellow classmates. Serenity became part of the group and continued following Angel around like a puppy. Though Angel usually ignored her, she was pleased that someone admired her that much.

The pirates took the group to various islands to visit or ransack towns, whichever the case happened to be. They also raided several merchant ships, but all were small game and no great profit came of them, though Jack liked to spin tales of how pirates grew rich off merchantmen. It always got them worked up and excited, which is what he intended it to do. They were lucky that none of them had any serious injuries from their many attacks. The injury that still held the record as being the worst was Sandra's hit to the head, but that was because it knocked her out and she was wobbly for several days afterwards.

It was shortly after they had returned to Tortuga that Carrie Ann sent word for them to hurry back to Pelegaus immediately. The students were confused over what the big rush was since Jack would not explain it more clearly or let tem see the note, but they headed out without many questions, this time taking Nina, Elizabeth, Pintel, and Ragetti with them. Rumors soon started up, which did not surprise the crew since they were sailing with women, after all.

"Do you think Carrie Ann died?" Emily asked from her bunk, sounding almost hopeful.

"She sent the note," Angela reminded. "I don't think she's dead."

"What do you think's wrong, Angel?" Sandra asked from across the room. "You're like her assistant, or something."

"I'm not her bloody assistant," Angel retorted, somewhat irritated at the comment. "I don't know what's going on more than th' rest of ya."

"We might as well go on to sleep," Serenity hinted from her bunk above Angel's, but that did not stop those who wanted to talk from talking. They whispered and giggled over absurd suggestions far into the night until Angel finally threatened to shoot their "bloody heads off" if they did not stop talking. They were not too worried over the threat since Angel could not shoot the broad side of a ship, but they obeyed anyway since they knew she was good with a sword.

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Before she knew it, Mei was jerked from her hammock and forced to stand. Strong hands gripped her arms and she swayed unsteadily on her feet, trying to blink the sleep away and figure out what was going on. Behind her, she heard the same treatment being dealt to Jibsi, Emma, and Mary. The person holding onto her shoved her forward, forcing her to walk against her will. They entered the hallway and she heard her fellow students shouting left and right.

"That it, men?" One of them asked over the din. From the looks of it, he was in charge.

"Yes, sir, thirteen in all," the man who was holding Christine replied, his voice jerking as she tried to break free.

"Good," the man in charge stated calmly. "Take them up on deck with the rest of the crew."

The men dragged the students up onto the deck. The sun glared down on them, blinding them momentarily. Mei heard a shout and a short scuffle just before her eyes adjusted to the bright light. Once they did, she could see the man who was holding onto Angel also holding his nose, which was now streaming blood. He reached back and slapped her across the face, streaking blood on her cheeks. She threw a curse in his face and spat on his shoes.

Suddenly Mei felt handcuffs being tightly clasped around her wrists. She jerked her arms, as if finally coming out of a stupor, but it was too late to get free. She looked ahead and saw the crew of the Black Pearl being shuffled off the ship, all in handcuffs as well. That was when she knew the situation was helpless.

"What the bloody heck is going on?!" Lissie shouted.

"Silence!" One man shouted above the din. Someone fired a gun. Everything went silent. The man who fired the gun turned to the commanding officer, nodding for him to speak.

"This is a formal arrest," the man stated calmly as if giving the time of day. "We have orders from Lord Cutler Beckett himself to try you all and hang you if found guilty, which I do believe you all will be by the look of it."

"Who told Beckett about us?" Christine asked, glaring harshly at the man.

"He's gotten word from Commodore Norrington about your little school of piracy," the man replied in the same easy tone as before. "But I wouldn't worry about that. If I were you, I would be worried about getting the judge to see that I'm innocent." A smirk of victory crossed his face. "Men, take them to their cells."

The group cast glares at the man as they were pushed and shoved off the ship and through the town, which they recognized as being on the more populated side. The men and women who were out gathered on the sides of the streets, eyeing the group of pirates warily. Some made snide remarks that were audible to them, but they were powerless to do anything, so they marched on, trying to hold onto what remaining dignity they had.

When they got to the jail, the jailor was surprised and somewhat incredulous at the sight of that many prisoners, but led the way back to the cells regardless. The building was hot and musty, they realized, as their swords, pistols, sashes, and knives were all removed and confiscated. Their captors unlocked the shackles and pushed them into the cells. Some of the girls attempted one final escape, but ended up being thrown into the cell headfirst. Because of the limited amount of cells available, the girls were packed four into a cell and Benjamin by himself.

"Your trial will be tomorrow morning," the man in command stated, strolling along the cell lined hallway just out of reach of several hands that shot out through the bars on each side. "I suggest you make yourselves comfortable."

"Where's Will?" Angela shouted, though the man was directly in front of her cell.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about the rest of the crew," he said, something in voice sounding smug. "You'll see them all tomorrow at your trial."

"I demand to see that lying traitor Norrington!" Christine shouted after the man as he strode down the hall. He laughed over his shoulder and they heard the large metal door open and shut and no more from him was heard.

The group remained silent for a while except for a few frustrated sighs. After several minutes the door squealed back open and they heard footsteps. Soon the owner of the footsteps revealed himself to be Norrington, looking none too happy about being forced in there.

"You dirty rat!" Christine shouted at him. "We were good to you and you broke the deal!"

"I told before I made the deal," he said, not raising his voice. "I just never let on that I said anything."

"How could you do this to us?" Catalina asked, holding onto the bars and looking desperate.

"It's because it's my duty even though I'm no longer part of the Royal Navy," he answered. "I have a duty to uphold to the people who sail the ocean by capturing pirates."

"You're worse than any of us, ya know that?" Angel asked coldly. "A bloody traitor, th' lowest form o' life."

He sighed at the whole pointless conversation. "I'm sorry it had to end up this way. I may be able to convince the judge that you were forced to sail against your will, but remember that it was not my choice for you to become pirates."

With that, he spun around and walked quickly out of the hall, leaving the students to their own devices once again. For a long while, they were all silent, realizing that maybe piracy isn't all that it's made out to be. After all, there had to be a reason for the phrase most pirates spoke of often: A short life and a merry one. This would be the end of theirs if the judge did not find them innocent, though that was a far cry from being logical.

"'Ey, Lissie," Angel suddenly whispered, "you've got a knife, right?"

"Aye…?" The younger girl raised an eyebrow.

"How do you have a knife?" Emma hissed from across the hall.

"A pirate always keeps one hidden," Angel smirked to herself as she pulled one out from the inside of her right boot. Lissie grinned and drew one from out from under her belt at the small of her back.

"I've got one too," Serenity stated excitedly as she held hers up. "What's your plan, Angel?"

"Don't 'ave one," she answered, an eyebrow arched , "…yet."

Collective groans echoed through the cells as their one glimmer of hope vanished in that one sentence.

"You'd better come up with one bloody fast," Christine snapped angrily from across the hall, but was not met by the normal quick comeback. The other girl was busily eying and turning over the knife in her hands.

-------

The metal door creaked open and slammed shut and several pairs of footsteps echoed down the hall. The group groaned to themselves as they shook the sleep from their eyes. Morning sunlight streamed dimly through the small, bar covered windows.

The cells were unlocked one by one and handcuffs were again clasped onto each wrist, this time with chain links between them so that they could not run away. Then, they were hustled out of the jail and into the bright sunlight, making them squint as they continued at the relentless pace. The group felt like they were being paraded through the town just for the sake of being humiliated, but finally they were brought into a new building. Rows of empty benches lined either side of the middle isle and up at the front stood Jack, Will, Elizabeth, and the crew of the Black Pearl.

The students halted for a moment, feeling there might be a slight chance of escape with the other pirates here, but that plan quickly fell to ruins at the sight of ropes tied around their wrists. The soldiers marched the students up to the front of the room and sat those who would fit on a long, wooden bench and left them to their own thoughts for the time being.

Angel hastily glanced round and whispered to Serenity, who was sitting next to her, "Don't act attached t' Jack or any of th' crew. Be indifferent. Pass th' word."

Soon, the command had spread down the line and just as it had, a man in a black robe and a ridiculously large wig stepped in. The soldiers prodded the students with the points of their guns as a signal to stand, which some reluctantly did while others remained seated. As soon as the man sat down at his elevated platform, the man next to him called out, "You may be seated."

Those who had a place to sit did so while the rest stood.

"You are all here on convictions of piracy," the judge stated, as if they did not know. "Captain Sparrow, we have found sufficient evidence on your ship as well as on your person to convict you and your crew."

"Oh you mean th' gold?" Jack questioned. "That was a gift. M' long, lost first mate left it for me, so technically _we_ did not steal it an' seein' as how he's already dead there's not much of a case, now, is there?"

The judge eyed him dully. "Captain Sparrow, are you or are you not aware of the consequences of piracy?"

"Very aware," Jack stated dryly.

"You and your crew, Captain Sparrow, have openly showed yourselves as pirates," the judge continued as if not having been interrupted. "There is not much evidence you can present that would save yourselves from the hangman's noose. We have seen the mark of piracy on your arms and know beyond a doubt that you are pirates. So against all this evidence, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," they chorused, as if it would do any good at this point. It was more of a reflex than anything else.

"I see…" the judge said, not surprised at the response. He looked over all their heads to the soldiers in the back. "You may take them back to their cells." The sound of shoes on the stone floor echoed through the room. "Captain Sparrow and his crew will hang this afternoon."

Quiet whimpers were quickly extinguished upon remembering Angel's command.

"Now, for the rest of you," the judge said, turning to the students while the crew and captain of the Black Pearl were being quickly ushered away after their extremely short trial. "We found you on board a pirate ship, wearing men's clothes, carrying various weapons, and working as part of the crew."

"We were _sleeping_," Lissie corrected, shifting her hands and causing her handcuffs to clank together. "We weren't bloody working when your men found us."

"Regardless of what you were doing the exact moment we found you is irrelevant," he replied, not impressed with her snappy attitude. "Captain Morgan and his men have not found the mark of piracy on any of you except for one," he stared at Angel when he said that. Then continued, addressing the rest of the group, "but that certainly does not mean you are innocent. What I have said earlier is enough to assume you were part of that crew, though all but one of you are women." They were silent, most eyes downcast. "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," came the half hearted answer that would not even convince a person who thought they were innocent to begin with.

The judge stared dully down at them. "Be that as it may, I declare you guilty of piracy." He slammed his gavel down on a block of wood, the sound made the group jump. "You will be hanged tomorrow morning."

-------

The were quite when they got back to their cells. The shock of actually getting caught and being hanged had not even crossed their minds. They knew piracy was a high risk and that they would probably only have a short life, but those warnings had been shoved to the farthest corner of their minds and excitement and curiosity had taken the forefront.

The very faint sound of drums at the fortress on the other side of the town reached their ears and they knew the ceremonies for the crew's hanging was taking place. They all gathered as close to the north wall as they could, not because they would be able to get a better view, but because it was closest to the place where their crew and captain were.

The minutes passed by in agony, the sound of the drums being forever printed in their minds. When the sound suddenly stopped, it took a moment to adjust to the silence. It was as if the noise had always been there and now that it was gone it was unnaturally quiet.

Stifled sniffs soon took the place of the drums. Sniffling turned to sobs as more and more of them began to cry. Not for themselves and the impending doom of the next day, but for Jack and Will and the crew.

Serenity wiped a tear from her cheek as she listened to the other sobs that filled the jail. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Angel drop to the floor and sob into her knees. Lissie and Emily immediately broke their hug and included Angel and Serenity in the embrace.

Tears lasted well on into the night and were only stopped when sleep finally overtook the students.

The night seemed unnaturally short when their sleep was interrupted by the loud squeaking of the metal door at the end of the hall. Several feet pounded through the hall and the doors were slammed open with rough orders to get up. The group numbly obeyed and allowed scratchy ropes to be tied around their wrists instead of the normal handcuffs and they were harshly pushed and shoved out of the jail. Waiting just outside the jail was a wagon that was to carry them to the gallows. They clambered on and the driver snapped the whip over his horses head, signaling for it to go.

"Angel…?" Angela whispered, prodding the other girl's knee. "If you ever thought up a plan, now would be a good time to put it to use."

The brunette stared dully up at the girl across from her. She pulled the knife from her boot and handed to her. "Cut yer ropes and escape while ya can."

Lissie twisted around to the side and motioned for Mei to get the knife out of her belt. The other girl did, but the wagon lurched out of a pothole and she dropped it. Catalina quickly bent down and grabbed it, faking a violent cough, before the guards at the end of the wagon could notice.

The knives were passed along, each student cautiously cutting their rope until there was just barely a string holding the two halves together. Just as the owners of the knives received their weapon back, the wagon jolted to a halt and the two guards hopped off the end of it and motioned for the students to do the same. They obeyed and were lead down a long stone hallway and out into an enclosed area on the other side. The weird thing about it was that there was nobody there to watch the hanging.

They were all led up onto a long platform that had been built to hang several people at once. The nooses were placed over their necks and they stood solemnly, staring out over the open expanse which would normally have people gathered there for this occasion. A man began reading out the charges they were being hanged for in a loud monotonous tone, as if there were a large audience there to hear him.

"And may God have mercy on your souls," he concluded, rolling a piece of parchment and descending from the platform quickly.

There was a moment of silence, but they soon heard the executioner step towards the leaver that would drop them to their deaths. He reached forward and grabbed it. They tensed. He adjusted his grip and they began struggling out of their ropes. Angel, who stood next to him, swung her arm out, fingers wrapped tightly around her knife just as the floor beneath all their feet began to give out. The executioner wailed in pain.

They dropped fast. The rope tightened around their neck. Suddenly the rope loosened and they dropped to the ground. Utterly confused, they jumped up and rushed towards the exit, throwing the ropes off their bodies, but soldiers stood in their way. The students tackled them like a wave, but were held back.

"Stop!" Came a shrill cry from somewhere behind them. They whirled around at the familiar voice to see Carrie Ann standing at another entrance with her arms crossed. Thrilled at anything familiar, they rushed towards her. She held up a hand and they stopped.

"What's going on?" Sandra asked frantically.

"This was a test," Carrie Ann stated calmly as Jack, Will, Elizabeth, and the crew of the Black Pearl appeared behind her. The students' eyes widened and they started shouting or laughing nervously.

"How did you get the soldiers to cooperate?" Emma hollered, close to tears from fear.

"That was _so_ not cool," Mary shouted, running her shaking hands through her hair.

"You bloody scared us!" Angel screamed, shouting as many curses as she could think of, surprising some with her extensive vocabulary.

Jack laughed at them and strode up to the group. "Yer lucky this wasn't real!" Ignoring what he said, his fan girls immediately rushed him and clung to him as if it were the last time they would see him.

Without waiting for Will to come forward, his fan girls scurried to him and glomped him. Elizabeth stood by, frowning and trying to coax them off of him.

Carrie Ann stood by, frowning at them, but continued anyway, "Yes, this was a test. You're going to need to know what to do when something like this comes and unfortunately most sailors don't. You've got a leg up on them by having this experience. I'm surprised that some of you would have knives hidden on your person, though."

"We're not idiots," Serenity stated, crossing her arms to prevent anyone from seeing how badly she was shaking.

Carrie Ann gave her a puzzled look and turned to the rest of the students. "Who's this?"

"Her name's Serenity," Emily supplied from her place hugging Will. "She wanted to know how to be a pirate too."

"It's a long story and I'm not in th' bloody mood to tell it now," Angel stated, still hanging onto Jack for dear life.

Carrie Ann raised an eyebrow. "Well, anyway, I'm pleased with most of your performance during this test except for yesterday evening when most of you broke down and cried after the fake execution. Whoever had the knives weren't too subtle about cutting the ropes on the ride over here. The 'soldiers' noticed and that's what you want to avoid. Angel, I applaud you for fighting back at the end with you knife, but you still would have died. How many of you had hidden knives going into the prison?"

Serenity, Lissie, and Angel raised their hands.

"Good job. Keep it up," she said.

"How did you get the soldiers and everybody to cooperate?" Emma asked again.

"They weren't soldiers. None of them were what they seemed to be except for the jailor. They were all pirates I bribed and cleaned up for the job. They are getting paid handsomely for this. That means, no, Norrington didn't tell anyone about our school and Beckett certainly doesn't know."

"Wow, that judge was convincing…" Benjamin mumbled to himself.

"Yes, that's why he got the part," Carrie Ann agreed. "But now, you're weapons are over there. Go get them and when you get back, tell me what your favorite foods are."

A bit puzzled by the second command, they scurried to get their weapons, thrilled to be alive to see another day, though not entirely sure they wanted any more surprises for a long time.

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A/N: Bet I had you going, huh? Maybe, maybe not. Anywho, **I need to know your character's favorite food!** Tell me in your review. Thanks!


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